/ 


VZ/ 


Compliments  of 

Hate  8. 


ISroofefietb, 


JAMES  MAHONEY 

1862-1915 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 
LETTERS  OF  APPRECIATION 
LITERARY  PRODUCTIONS 

INTRODUCTION 

BY 
HON.  FRANK  B.  SANBORN 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED  BY  THE 
RUMFORD  PRESS 
CONCORD,  N.  H. 


Copyright,  1920 

BY 
NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY 


MAHONY  FAMILY 
WE  DEFEND  OURSELVES  AND  OUB  FAITH 


Ml  IIIH   'III  I  i     I'liilnlUim  i 

ET-IN-BELLO" 


CARROLL  FAMILY 
FIRM  IN  FAITH  AND  IN  WAR 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION,  by  Hon.  Frank  B.  Sanborn xi 

CHAPTER  I 

IRISH  HISTORY  WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  THE  MAHONEY  FAMILY,  by  Mr. 

James  W.  McCoy 1 

CHAPTER  II 

OLD  FAMILY  LETTERS  FROM: 

MRS.  HARRIET  E.  DUNCAN 10 

MRS.  F.  E.  COOKE 13 

COL.  JOHN  S.  COOKE 13 

MRS.  KATE  GANNETT  WELLS 13 

MR.  H.  C.  SHAW 14 

MRS.  MARY  ELIZABETH  BLAKE 15 

HON.  THEODORE  C.  BATES 15 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  OLD  HOME  AND  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY,  by  James  Mahoney  17 

CHAPTER  III 

EARLY  SCHOOL  DAYS,  by  Miss  Emma  Whiting  and  Mr.  Sidney  Sherman  ...  21 

LETTERS  OF  SYMPATHY  FROM  OLD  NORTH  BROOKFIELD  FRIENDS    ....  27 
ESSAYS  WRITTEN  WHEN  HE  WAS  A  PUPIL  IN  THE  NORTH  BROOKFIELD  HIGH 

SCHOOL 31 

CHAPTER  IV 

DAYS  AT  AMHERST,  by  Prof.  Joseph  0.  Thompson 73 

EXTRACTS  FROM  COMMON  PLACE-BOOK,  KEPT  WHILE  HE  WAS  AT  AMHERST       .     .  81 

LETTERS  FROM  AMHERST  MEN 84 

ORATION  BY  MAHONEY  ON  THE  COMMENCEMENT  STAGE 99 

CHAPTER  V 

LETTERS  FROM  PEOPLE  ASSOCIATED  WITH  HIM  IN  WORCESTER: 

REV.  DR.  JOHN  J.  McCoY 102 

REV.  OWEN  M.  McGEE 103 

MR.  ALFRED  S.  ROE 106 

Ma.  A.  P.  MARBLE 107 

DR.  WILLIAM  P.  SOUTHER 107 

DR.  E.  WARNER 107 

LETTERS  FROM  PROF.  H.  B.  ADAMS  OF  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  AND  FROM 

DR.  IRA  REMSEN,  PRESIDENT  OF  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY     .     .     .  107,  108 

APPLICATION  FOR  THE  POSITION  AS  ASSISTANT  SUPERINTENDENT 109 

CHAPTER  VI 

TEACHER  OF  HISTORY,  by  Mr.  G.  G.  Wolkins    .     ......     »     .     .     .  118 

LETTERS  FROM  FRIENDS  AND  PUPILS  WHO  WISHED  TO  SEE  MAHONEY  PROMOTED 

TO  BE  ASSISTANT  SUPERINTENDENT  .  ,140 


Vl  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VII 

LETTERS  FROM  MEN  WHO  DESIRED  TO  SEE  MAHONET  PROMOTED  TO  THE  PRIN- 

CIPALSHIP  OF  THE  SOUTH  BOSTON  HlGH  SCHOOL 154 

CHAPTER  VIII 

RETROSPECT 169 

CHAPTER  IX 

TRIBUTES  FROM  FRIENDS 176 

CHAPTER  X 
SUMMARY  OF  WORK  IN  WASHINGTON 195 

CHAPTER  XI 

CONNECTION  WITH: 

SOUTH  BOSTON  PARENTS'  ASSOCIATION 201 

SOUTH  BOSTON  TRADE  ASSOCIATION 205 

SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL 211 

AMERICAN  PEACE  SOCIETY 212 

CATHOLIC  LITERARY  UNION 216 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ART  LEAGUE 227 

BOSTON  HOME  AND  SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION 250 

CHAPTER  XII 

EXTRACTS  FROM  MAHONEY'S  LETTERS,  SOME  OF  His  LECTURES  AND  POEMS      .     .     251 

CHAPTER  XIII 
DORCHESTER  HEIGHTS,  WORDS  AND  Music  BY  JAMES  MAHONEY 345 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

JAMES  MAHONEY Frontispiece 

COAT  OF  ARMS Preceding  Chapter  I 

PICTURES  OF  THE  OLD  HOME  AND  OF  SOME  OF  THE  HISTORIC 

PLACES  WHICH  SURROUND  IT Preceding  page  17 

JAMES  MAHONEY  WHEN  HE  GRADUATED  FROM  AMHERST, 

1884 Preceding  page  73 

JAMES  MAHONEY  WHEN  A  STUDENT  AT  BERLIN  UNIVERSITY, 

1896 Preceding  page  278 


FOREWORD 

The  endeavor,  in  compiling  this  book,  has  been  to  allow  James 
Mahoney  to  tell  his  own  life  story  by  his  writings,  as  far  as  possible. 
Who  could  tell  better  than  his  essays  can,  his  rules  of  life,  his  springs  of 
action — his  very  inmost  thoughts,  even,  are  exposed  in  them. 

The  essays  which  are  presented  to  the  reader  are  ones  which  the 
compiler  of  this  work  was  fortunate  enough  to  get  possession  of  in  her 
childhood,  entirely  unknown  to  the  author.  To  her  they  were  price- 
less and  so  were  carefully  cherished. 

The  scope  of  this  wtfrk  embraces  examples  of  James'  work  from  the 
time  he  entered  the  North  Brookfield  High  School  to  the  time  of  his 
death.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  show,  by  the  selections,  what 
was  positively  true,  that  every  realm  of  thought  and  every  phase  of 
human  existence  appealed  to  him.  Also  to  show  the  broadness,  depth 
and  originality  of  his  mind. 

The  work  would  have  fallen  far  short  of  its  aim  if  it  were  not  for  his 
good  friends  who  cheerfully  wrote  of  the  times  when  they  were  closely 
associated  with  him.  To  them  and  to  all  who  rendered  any  service, 
I  hereby  tender  my  most  grateful  thanks. 

Many  of  the  quotations  which  precede  the  chapters  were  written 
by  James.  For  the  most  part  the  others  were  marked  by  him  in  his 
books,  so  they  may  be  said  to  be  really  a  part  of  him.  Everything  in 
his  books  that  reminded  him  of  the  cherished  scenes  of  his  childhood 
was  marked.  Also  passages  which  depicted  great  strength  of  char- 
acter. The  one  preceding  Chapter  VIII  is  an  example. 

All  the  papers  have  been  published  in  their  original  condition,  with 
but  a  single  exception.  The  only  papers  James  had  prepared  for 
publication,  used  in  this  book,  were  the  poems  and  the  "English 
Poets'  Debt  to  the  Church."  It  was  his  intention  to  publish  his 
lecture  on  "Socialism  and  Anarchism,"  but  he  wanted  to  revise  it 
first. 

When  he  prepared  that  lecture  he  was  a  very  sick  man,  so  I  asked 
his  good  friend,  Mr.  Arthur  Astor  Carey,  if  he  would  go  over  it  care- 
fully. Mr.  Carey  did  so  and  wrote  me  as  follows:  "I  have  made  but 
few  changes — those  changes  were  made  to  bring  out  the  meaning  a 
little  clearer — in  no  case  have  I  changed  the  meaning  or  added  any- 
thing to  it." 

After  completing  this  work  I  accidentally  found  a  file,  which  had 
escaped  my  attention,  filled  with  letters,  from  people  in  all  walks  of 
life,  thanking  James  for  the  favors  he  had  rendered  them  The 
letters  revealed  a  side  of  his  character  that  has  scarcely  been  touched 
upon  in  this  book.  Charity  was  his  greatest  characteristic.  The  best 
remains  untold. 

NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY. 


CARDINAL'S  RESIDENCE, 

408  N.  CHARLES  ST., 

BALTIMORE. 


NEW  ORLEANS,  LOUISIANA, 

March  the  3rd,  1917. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  Street,  South  Boston,  Mass. 

My  dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

Your  esteemed  favor  of  the  27th  ult.,  has  been  forwarded  to  me  here 
in  New  Orleans  where  I  am  spending  a  few  days. 

Although  I  had  frequently  heard  of  your  brother,  I  do  not  recall 
ever  having  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him. 

I  am  pleased  to  hear  that  you  are  about  to  publish  a  Memoir  of  him 
and  I  most  heartily  bless  your  undertaking,  for  I  am  sure  that  it  is  for 
you  a  work  of  love. 

I  have  read  with  great  interest  the  essay*  you  enclosed  with  your 
letter,  written  by  him  during  his  first  year  in  High  School.  It  shows 
a  clear  understanding  of  a  question  which  is  of  so  much  interest  dur- 
ing these  times. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

J.  CARD.  GIBBONS, 

Archbishop  of  Baltimore. 
*  The  essay  referred  to  is  "  Ought  Women  to  Vote?  " 


INTRODUCTION 

Sixty-one  years  ago,  on  graduating  from  Harvard  College  in  the 
Class  of  1855,  I  took  for  my  Commencement  subject,  "The  School- 
master of  the  Future,"  that  being  the  occupation  which  I  had  chosen 
for  at  least  the  beginning  of  my  active  life.  I  was  already  settled  in  a 
small  school,  in  the  pleasant  town  of  Concord,  and  saw  no  reason  why 
I  should  not  continue  there,  and  in  that  agreeable  and  useful  pursuit. 
Providence  directed  the  course  of  my  days  otherwise;  but  I  never 
regretted  the  choice  I  first  made,  of  the  function  in  which  I  was  to  test 
whether  it  would  be  allowed  me  to  move  the  great  world,  be  it  ever  so 
little,  with  the  small  lever  of  the  teacher  of  boys  and  girls.  It  was 
but  a  few  years  after  my  graduation,  and  before  I  gave  up  my  school, 
that  our  friend,  James  Mahoney,  was  born,  who  so  well  filled  the  func- 
tion declared  to  be  of  such  value  to  mankind. 

Like  my  neighbor,  Henry  Thoreau,  a  natural  inclination  for  study 
and  thought  turned  the  wishes  of  his  family  toward  the  acquirement  by 
him  of  the  higher  education,  which  afterward  fitted  him  for  those  up- 
per walks  of  instruction  in  which  he  so  long  labored.  He  graduated 
from  the  distinguished  college  at  Amherst,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two, 
but  still  continued  to  follow  a  line  of  studies  which  took  him  to  Balti- 
more, to  Boston  and  finally  to  Berlin.  The  names  of  his  higher  in- 
structors, including  those  of  Dr.  Seelye  of  Amherst,  Dr.  Herbert 
Adams  and  Woodrow  Wilson  at  Baltimore,  and  of  Paulsen  in  Ger- 
many, are  guarantees  of  the  solid  and  varied  culture,  with  which  he 
carried  on  for  thirty  years,  and  with  a  steady  discipline  and  an  or- 
ganizing faculty  which  does  not  always  accompany  high  attainments, 
the  serious  business  of  instruction. 

In  a  country  like  ours,  where  there  is  an  eager  thirst  for  the  practical 
benefits  of  education,  but  a  small  and  proportionately  decreasing  desire 
for  the  rewards  of  the  scholar's  harder  and  ill-requited  attainments,  it 
is  most  attractive  to  see  a  zeal  so  native,  and  an  accomplishment  so 
successfully  gained,  as  was  noticeable  in  Mr.  Mahoney.  He  did  honor 
to  a  race  noted  for  its  learning  since  the  earliest  ages  of  its  history;  and 
it  was  with  him  no  selfish  acquisition,  fostering  pride  and  withholding 
him  from  the  companionship  of  his  kind;  but  what  he  had  acquired 
with  toil  and  travel  he  imparted  freely,  with  labor  and  journeying,  to 
those  with  whom  his  way  of  life  brought  him  into  acquaintance.  His 
literary  talent  kept  pace  with  his  gift  for  instruction  and  for  organiza- 
tion; for  he  was  not  one  of  those  specialists  who  can  do  only  one  or  two 
things  well;  but  had  that  general  facility  for  the  tasks  of  the  scholar, 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

the  citizen  and  the  practical  man,  which  Milton  commends,   and 
would  have  made  the  aim  of  his  noble  system  of  education. 

He  had  his  trials  and  disappointments  like  others,  and  was  no  excep- 
tion to  the  rule  that  his  good  was  sometimes  misinterpreted,  where  it 
could  not  be  misunderstood.  Those  who  serve  mankind  with  much 
expectation  of  gratitude  are  apt  to  be  disappointed;  even  justice  is 
not  always  rendered  to  excellent  and  earnest  service.  The  motives 
must  be  religious,  as  his  were;  and  then  the  result  can  hardly  fail  to  be 
satisfactory.  Wordsworth  has  well  stated  the  rule  for  self -consecrated 
persons,  in  that  Sonnet  which  thus  closes : 

Earthly  fame 

Is  Fortune's  frail  dependant;  yet  there  lives 
A  Judge  who,  as  man  claims,  by  merit  gives; 
To  whose  all-pondering  mind  a  noble  aim, 
Faithfully  kept,  is  as  a  noble  deed; 
In  whose  pure  sight  all  virtue  doth  succeed. 

FRANK  B.  SANBOBN. 
Concord,  Massachusetts, 
May  20,  1916. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

CHAPTER  I 

IRISH  HISTORY  AND  THE  MAHONEY  FAMILY 

Only  a  week  or  two  before  James  Mahoney*  started  on  his  fateful 
trip  to  California,  he  met  a  boyhood  friend  in  Boston,  with  whom  he 
felt  free  to  soar  into  the  realms  of  philosophy,  even  on  a  casual  encoun- 
ter in  the  street.  The  talk  turned  in  the  course  of  time  to  the  great 
war  and  particularly  the  future  of  Europe.  A  natural  sidelight  of 
this  phase,  that  interested  both,  was  the  future  of  Ireland;  whether 
it  would  be  a  contented  but  integral  part  of  the  British  Empire;  an 
independent  nation;  a  self-governing  outlier  of  the  empire;  anything, 
he  hoped,  but  the  sullen  vassal  as  of  yore.  His  forecast  was  that 
the  awful  toll  of  battle,  would  bring  about  one  great  good — a  happy 
culmination  of  the  miserable  age-long  story  of  Ireland. 

Mahoney  was,  of  course,  a  New  Englander  through  and  through — 
born  and  bred  on  mid-Massachusetts'  hills,  educated  in  Amherst, 
Johns  Hopkins,  Harvard  and  Berlin.  But  the  home  of  his  ancestors 
had  a  deep  interest  for  him.  This  was  but  natural  from  a  man  whose 
father  came  from  Cork  county  and  his  mother  was  a  Carroll  from 
Clare  county,  a  relative  of  the  Maryland  Carrolls,  of  whom  it  will 
be  recalled  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  faced  a  hanging  in  signing 
the  Declaration. 

Mahoney  would  look  back,  with  a  glowing  eye,  to  the  stirring 
tale  of  King  Mahon,  possibly  the  most  Irish  figure  in  Erin's  Valhalla, 
and  among  other  things  the  traditional  progenitor  of  the  tribe  of 
Mahony. 

Not  all  of  this  came  out  on  any  one  occasion.  It  was  to  him  a 
delight,  to  enlarge  on  so  much  of  Irish  history  as  he  knew,  and  he, 
himself,  a  specialist  in  the  teaching  of  history,  to  descant  to  a  sym- 
pathetic mind,  upon  the  varied  and  glorious  annals  of  the  green  isle; 
into  some  of  the  recondite  fields  of  which  he  had  explored  beyond 
the  reach  of  many  diligent  students.  Of  the  documented,  authentic 
history,  he  knew  the  outlines  very  well.  His  own  special  bent  tended 
toward  philological,  ethnological,  and  archaeological  data,  from  which 
to  get  a  light  on  the  prehistoric. 

*  Mahoney  (Mah'-o-ni),  Century  Dictionary.     This  is  the  Irish  pronunciation. 
Formerly  there  was  no  "e"  in  the  spelling.     It  crept  in  during  the  school  days  in 
North  Brookfield. 
2 


2  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

He  was  a  great  believer  in  race  characteristics;  their  persistence; 
their  undying  adherence  to  distinguishing  ideals,  as  he  often  expressed 
it,  and  found  in  the  Irish  race,  not  merely  a  blend  of  qualities  merged 
in  centuries  of  travail  and  attrition,  but  rather  a  primitive  ground- 
work, distinctively  Irish,  that  remained  relatively  unchanged  through- 
out, on  which  there  would  from  century  to  century  be  drawn  various 
traits,  other  ideals,  other  aims,  some  to  persist  for  a  long  time;  some 
to  vanish  and  make  way  for  newer  notions. 

A  subject  always  of  absorbing  interest  to  Mahoney  was  the  origin 
and  migrations  of  the  Celtic  race.  The  historian,  of  course,  soon 
runs  short  of  written  records  and  must  rely  on  matters  at  first  like 
architectural  remains,  bits  of  pottery,  and  the  like,  which  carry  him 
back  only  a  few  more  centuries.  Of  comparatively  recent  times 
there  has  been  developed  a  new  instrument  of  research,  in  identifying 
ancient  languages,  some  now  forgotten  as  languages,  but  whose 
remains  are  embodied  in  modern  speech. 

For  a  man  of  Mahoney's  thoroughness,  this  vista  came  too  late 
for  anything  like  adequate  study  and  so,  teacher-like,  he  left  the  deep 
research  work  to  others,  but  was  eager  for  any  fruits  of  their  work. 
For  the  historian,  this  line  of  research  has  proved  exceptionally  rich, 
particularly  in  place  names,  which  are  found  to  be  peculiarly  persist- 
ent, practicably  immovable  in  fact,  and  providing  material  regarded 
as  more  and  more  reliable,  in  tracing  races  back  in  the  mists  of  time. 

Out  of  this  has  come  a  fairly  well-settled  conviction  that  the  Celts 
were  the  first  of  the  Aryan  races  to  enter  Europe.  They  travelled 
ever  westward  from  somewhere  in  Asia,  sometimes  pioneers,  pushing 
into  the  unknown  and  displacing  the  natives;  more  often,  probably, 
being  pushed  onward  by  following  tribes,  who,  with  the  virile  strength 
of  the  rough,  outdoor,  poverty  stricken,  was  able  to  drive  onward, 
those  he  found  in  his  way,  who  by  long  years  of  peace  and  plenty 
had  lost  possibly  the  warlike  qualities  that  sufficed  to  win  a  foothold 
originally.  But  go  where  he  would,  the  Celt  left  his  place  names, 
firmly  attached  to  this  day;  often  changed  or  corrupted  to  fit  the 
tongue  of  newcomers,  but  holding  fast  to  roots  and  essentials  and 
being  fairly  recognizable,  as  a  historical  record. 

One  field  in  which  Mahoney  liked  to  delve,  by  proxy  of  course,  as 
he  realized  the  limitations  on  his  own  energies  in  making  anything 
like  an  adequate  study,  was  the  singular  persistence  of  the  word  Gael, 
as  imbedded  in  place  names.  It  is  noted  to-day  in  Ireland,  in  "Gal  "- 
way,  Don-"  gal,"  where  one  would  expect  to  find  it.  The  French 
to-day  call  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Prince  de  Galles — the  same  word 
and  pronounced  practically  the  same  as  one  talking  Irish  would  pro- 
nounce Gael.  France,  itself,  was  once  Gaul,  still  another  form  of  the 
same  word.  The  Romans  conquered  Gaul  under  Julius  Caesar  in 
48  B.C.;  the  Gallo-romans,  in  turn  were  conquered  by  the  Franks  in 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  3 

the  fifth  century  A.D.  In  Brittany  and  Belgium  we  still  find  traces 
of  these  Gaels. 

The  same  word  crops  up  a  farther  step  eastward  in  "Gal  "-icia  where 
there  are  practically  no  Gaels  now,  nor  for  a  great  many  centuries; 
but  it  still  remains  the  land  of  the  Gaels,  in  name  at  least.  Going 
still  farther,  probably  in  Asia  Minor,  there  is  a  record  found  in  the 
New  Testament,  of  the  "Gal  "-atians,  who  lived  in  "Gal"-atia, 
another  land  of  the  Gaels,  abandoned  by  them  untold  centuries  ago. 

Another  Celtic  word  singularly  persistent  is  "dun,"  which  in  Gaelic 
is  a  hill,  fortress,  a  fastness,  probably  away  back,  what  we  would  call 
a  robber's  or  raider's  lair.  It  is  part  of  the  word  Verdun.  The  same 
word  appears  in  Lon"don,"  which  once  was  only  a  Roman  fortress 
and  two  hundred  years  of  Roman  occupation  could  not  wipe  the 
Celtic  "dun,"  from  the  name. 

River  names,  also,  are  peculiarly  tenacious.  Renos  or  Rhenos 
is  apparently  an  old  Celtic  word  for  "flowing  water";  also  Don, 
though  there  was  probably  some  difference  in  meaning.  These  are 
imbedded  to-day  in  Rhine,  Rhone,  Danube  (in  German  Donau), 
Don  Dneister  and  more  obscurely  in  hundreds  of  other  river,  brook 
and  lake  names.  Garonne  in  France  is  pure  Celtic,  being  "Gar,"  as 
rough,  turbulent  and  Rhone,  a  river,  somewhat  corrupted  of  course, 
to  conform  to  the  French  tongue. 

Examples  cited  by  philologists  of  extreme  corruption  in  the  course 
of  many,  many  centuries,  are  Aisne  and  Marne,  where  the  letter 
"n"  is  all  that  is  left  of  the  once  assertive  and  tenacious  Rhenos, 
or  Renos,  or  some  word  very  like  it.  This  record  in  geographical 
names  was  peculiarly  eloquent  to  Mahoney,  as  indicating  the  farflung 
migrations  of  the  Celts.  It  also  appealed  to  him  as  accounting,  in 
some  measure,,  for  the  remarkably  early  development  of  culture  and 
civilization  in  Ireland. 

The  Celts  may  be  looked  on  as  a  rough,  uncouth,  ruthless  and 
uncultured  tribe  as  they  entered  Europe,  the  vanguard  of  the  Aryans. 
They  can  be  conceived  as  living  in  some  place  in  the  far  east  of  Europe, 
say  Galicia,  and  acquiring  in  the  course  of  peaceful  centuries  some 
culture,  perhaps  not  much.  They  either  pioneered  farther  west- 
ward, or  were  driven  on  and  repeated  the  process,  their  culture  advanc- 
ing a  step  beyond  the  Galicia  stage.  They  must  have  stayed 
centuries  in  the  places  they  chose,  so  widespread  and  persistent  are 
the  remains  of  their  language  in  place  and  river  names.  Finally, 
we  can  jump  to  the  last  stage  when  they  reached  Ireland,  possessing 
not  merely  a  high  degree  of  accumulated  culture,  but,  in  fact,  all  the 
culture  there  was  at  that  time. 

A  curious  remnant1  of  this  philological  type,  is  the  only  survival  of 
the  word  "Aryan"  itself  in  "Ire "-land  in  a  place  name,  which  in 
Celtic  is  much  different  from  "Ire";  more  like  Erin  as  we  know 


4  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the  word,  or  Eirinn  and  many  other  variants  in  the  spelling.  It  is 
not  put  forward  here  as  a  demonstrated  fact  that  the  "Ire"  in  Ireland 
is  a  variant  of  Aryan.  It  is  conjectured  to  be  by  some  philologists, 
with  a  confession  of  a  very  uncertain  ground  for  any  conclusion. 

They  came  in  time  to  the  then  peaceful  Ireland;  a  haven  where 
the  finer  graces  of  culture  could  flourish  far  from  war's  alarms  and 
literature  that  illuminated  the  world  grew  to  rich  fruition.  There 
came  other  migrations  to  Ireland,  notably  from  Spain,  where  Milesius 
and  his  followers,  added  a  new  facet  to  the  Irish  character,  perhaps 
the  most  distinctive  of  all,  except  possibly  the  English,  which  have 
imposed  their  language  at  least  on  the  island,  though  failing  signally 
in  other  fields  of  effort.  "She  was  subdued  perhaps,  but  never 
conquered,"  as  Mahoney  wrould  say. 

Of  Irish  history,  the  documented  roster  of  events,  little  need  be 
said  here,  except  that  one  may  note  the  singular  tenacity  with  which 
the  Irish  remained  Irish;  they  did  not  welcome  Danes  when  the  name 
of  the  Norse  invader  was  a  potent  menace  indeed,  laid  low  later  by 
Brian,  whose  harvest  was  garnered  by  Mahon.  Even  in  later  years, 
the  English  did  no  better.  The  invader  became  Irish  in  a  generation 
or  two;  "More  Irish  than  the  Irish"  has  often  been  said  of  them. 

The  best  information  on  the  origin  of  the  Mahony  family  places 
its  beginning  in  A.D.  483,  founded  by  Cormac,  King  of  Munster, 
anciently  given  as  Maigheanach,  enjoying  the  titles  of  Lord  of  Iveagh, 
also  Lord  of  Kinal  Meaky,  ruling  in  Kinal  Aodha,  now  the  barony 
of  Kinalea,  south  of  the  Lee.  Their  descendants,  in  remote  but 
historic  times,  flourished  mainly  in  Cork  and  Kerry.  The  widest 
known  Mahony  of  modern  times  is  probably  Rev.  Francis  Mahony, 
born  in  Cork  in  1805  and  died  in  Paris  in  1866,  the  Fr.  Prout  of  liter- 
ature, whose  "Bells  of  Shandon"  are  immortal,  and  "The  Reliques 
of  Father  Prout"  which  originally  appeared  in  Frazier's  Magazine, 
are  unique  in  English  literature.  A  little  farther  back  Venerable 
Charles  Mahony,  Irish  Franciscan  Martyr,  was  executed  August  12, 
1679,  at  Rulhin  in  North  Wales.  He  died  praying  God  to  forgive 
his  enemies  and  to  bless  the  King.  His  age  was  under  forty.  He 
suffered  with  great  constancy,  being  cut  down  alive  and  butchered. 

Col.  John  O'Mahony  was  not  only  a  famous  Fenian,  but  one  of 
the  very  learned  men  of  his  time. 

A  Col.  Dermod  O'Mahony  was  with  King  James,  at  the  battle 
of  the  Boyne  (1691)  and  fought  at  Aughrim  and  Limerick;  a  Barthe- 
lemy  O'Mahony,  Chevalier  of  St.  Louis,  was  a  lieutenant  general  in 
France.  A  more  imposing  figure  was  Daniel  O'Mahony,  who  fought 
at  Limerick,  at  least,  and  then  like  many  an  Irishman  went  to  France 
where  he  was  made  a  colonel  by  Louis  XIV  for  his  work  at  the  battle 
of  Cremona,  became  later  a  brigadier  in  French  service;  went  to 
Spain,  where  Philip  V  made  him  commander  of  the  Irish  dragoons, 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  5 

ultimately,  a  lieutenant  general,  Count  of  Castile  and  Commander 
of  the  military  order  of  St.  James. 

James  Mahony's  mother  was  a  Carroll,  coming  from  County 
Clare,  Ireland.  The  chief  of  the  family  was  Lord  of  Ely,  also  Lord  of 
Clary  and  the  family  was  originally  more  or  less  confined  to  Kerry, 
Tipperary  and  Kings,  now  of  course  found  everywhere  in  Ireland,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  Their  principal  castle  was  at 
Birr,  near  Parsonstown  and  the  founder  was  Donald  O'Carroll.  They 
were  staunch  supporters  of  the  English  Stuart  dynasty,  the  head  of 
the  clan  in  Charles  I's  time,  having  been  Donough  O'Carroll,  who  had 
thirty  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  old  man  made  up  a  troop  of  his 
sons,  or  some  of  them,  presenting  the  troop  to  the  Marquis  of  Ormonde 
for  Charles  I.  They  followed  Charles  II  into  exile  and  died  in  foreign 
service.  As  a  remnant  of  history,  it  is  a  small  matter,  but  it  requires 
little  vision,  to  realize  the  light  that  would  gleam  in  Mahoney's  eyes, 
as  he  recalled  this  rugged  ancestor.  Brigadier  Francis  O'Carroll  was 
a  distinguished  officer  under  James  II,  went  to  France  when  the 
monarch  was  exiled — more  likely  allowed  to  escape — and  was  killed 
at  Marsaglia.  His  descendants  are  known  in  France  to-day  as  "de 
Carrolles." 

The  Carrolls  came  over  in  force  with  Lord  Baltimore  and  helped  to 
found  Maryland,  which  may  well  be  called  the  state  of  the  Carrolls 
From  them  sprung  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  the  signer  of  the 
Declaration,  the  most  distinguished  American  Carroll,  though  a  ques- 
tion might  be  raised  regarding  the  claims  of  his  contemporary,  Bishop 
Carroll,  the  first  Catholic  bishop  in  the  United  States.  The  site  of 
the  city  of  Baltimore  was  bought  from  the  Carroll  family  in  1792, 
and  incorporated  1796  as  a  city.  Daniel  Carroll  presented  his  farm 
on  the  Potomac  to  Washington,  making  what  is  now  a  large  part  of 
the  District  of  Columbia.  This  Daniel  Carroll  was  one  of  the  thirty- 
six  delegates  who  signed  the  Constitution  in  1787. 

Grandfather  Carroll  was  an  accountant,  of  the  type  now  known  as 
"chartered"  or  "public"  accountants.  His  work  was  more  with  the 
relatively  simple  records  of  transactions  among  the  landlords,  requir- 
ing accuracy  and  the  utmost  probity. 

Mahoney's  grandfather's  grandfather  was  the  first  of  the  family  to 
settle  near  Crookhaven  Harbor.  He  received  from  his  father,  who 
was  a  merchant  marine,  a  sloop,  cargo  and  a  thousand  pounds.  He 
was  a  merchant,  captain  and  owner  of  the  sloop.  There  were  no 
overland  routes  at  that  time  and  Crookhaven  Harbor  was  a  great 
port  of  call.  There  is  a  wireless  station  there  now. 

Among  their  chief  castles  were  Rosbrin,  Ardimtenant,  Ballydes- 
mond,  Ringmahon,  Blackcastle,  Dunbeacon  and  Dunmanus. 

Their  coat  of  arms  bore  the  motto  "We  defend  ourselves  and  our 
faith." 


6  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Mahoney's  paternal  grandfather  was,  in  his  youth,  a  captain  of  the 
yeomanry,  later  a  government  surveyor  in  County  Cork.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Arbitral  Justice,  a  body  for  settling 
disputes  between  landlords  and  tenants,  also  for  settling  estates,  etc. 

It  is  of  some  interest  to  note  that  one  of  the  estates  he  settled  was 
that  of  an  English  peer  whose  family  name  was  Beecher,  and  who  was 
a  progenitor  of  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

It  was,  as  may  be  guessed,  an  exceedingly  responsible  position  and 
of  exceeding  honor  and  filled  only  by  the  best  men  to  be  had.  Another 
office  he  filled  was  that  of  chief  of  the  Coast  Guard,  which  post  often 
called  him  far  from  home.  He  was  a  learned  man  and  a  poet. 

James  Mahoney's  father  was  John  Mahony,  born  at  Goleen, 
County  Cork,  Ireland,  in  1821. 

John  Mahony  left  Ireland,  May  1,  1850,  in  a  small  craft  carrying 
less  than  fifty  passengers,  being  six  weeks  and  three  days  on  the  way. 
Under  stress  of  weather,  the  ship  had  to  put  in  at  St.  John,  New 
Brunswick.  He  landed  in  Boston  and  made  his  way  to  Ware,  where 
he  settled  down  as  a  farmer. 

In  1856  he  married  Miss  Bridget  Carroll  of  Ware.  She  was  born 
in  Bally  Kelly,  a  part  of  the  town  of  Broadford,  County  Clare,  Ireland, 
and  came  to  this  country  in  1850,  braving  a  thirty-six  days'  passage 
in  a  sailing  packet,  from  Liverpool  and  travelling  by  train  and  coach 
to  her  sister's  in  Ware. 

After  their  marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mahony  lived  a  while  in  Ware 
and  later  in  Hardwick,  but  in  1863,  purchased  the  old  historic  Hale 
farm  in  the  western  portion  of  North  Brookfield,  where  they  may  be 
said  to  have  lived  ever  after,  the  peaceful,  uneventful,  but  character- 
building  life  of  the  industrious  New  England  farmer. 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mahony  were  studious  and,  as  may  be  gathered 
from  the  foregoing,  well  able  to  carry  on  the  New  England  tradition 
of  "Plain  living  and  high  thinking."  When  their  children  became 
old  enough  nothing  was  spared  in  schooling.  This  was  no  light  task 
as  the  high  school  was  three  miles  away  and' those  were  not  the  days 
of  free  transportation  or  free  text  books. 

They  were  never  absent  from  school  on  account  of  the  severe  New 
England  storms,  and  tardy  marks  were  unknown  to  them,  unless  the 
roads  were  actually  impassable  and  they  had  to  wait  in  the  team,  on 
the  road,  while  their  father  cleared  a  passage  through  the  drifts. 
When  the  roads  were  known  to  be  blocked  they  must  start  for 
school  at  7  o'clock,  so  as  to  be  at  school  on  time,  if  it  was  humanely 
possible  for  their  father  to  get  them  there.  In  those  days  there  was 
no  such  thing  thought  of  as  no  school  on  account  of  a  severe  storm. 
Punctuality  and  system  were  so  thoroughly  instilled  in  their  minds 
that  they  could  never  be  anything  but  punctual  and  systematic  in 
whatever  they  did. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  7 

James,  as  has  been  indicated,  had  considerably  more  than  the 
average  in  scholastic  training.  Miss  Mary,  the  eldest  daughter,  died 
comparatively  young,  in  1891.  Miss  Kate  A.  has  long  been  a  teacher 
in  North  Brookfield.  Miss  Nellie  M.  was  for  many  years  supervisor 
of  drawing  in  Massachusetts  schools,  later  the  companion  of  James 
and  the  chatelaine  of  his  home. 

Mr.  Mahony,  the  elder,  died  at  the  old  home  on  February  28,  1902, 
at  the  age  of  81,  and  Mrs.  Mahony  also  at  the  family  home  on  Novem- 
ber 30,  1906,  at  the  age  of  84. 

The  following  was  copied  from  James'  diary: 

Sunday  4.40  P.M.,  March  2,  1902. 

Father  died  Friday  morning  at  4.45  o'clock. 

I  was  awakened  at  the  Nottingham  at  3.30  A.M.  by  Mr.  Hunt. 
He  said :  "  A  message  has  come  over  the  'phone  for  you.  Your  Father 
is  alive  but  is  sinking  very  fast  and  they  want  you  to  come  right 
home." 

The  first  train  I  could  get  was  the  5  A.M.  train.  I  reached  home 
at  about  8.30.  Father  was  already  dead.  When  laid  in  the  coffin 
profound  peace  was  in  his  face.  He  looked  as  if  asleep. 

The  funeral  was  this  afternoon  from  the  church.  The  roads  were 
very  bad  and  it  was  raining  but  even  that  seemed  fitting.  The  ar- 
rangements were  perfect,  not  a  delay  anywhere.  The  flowers  were 
beautiful.  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful."  Requiescat  in  pace. 

James  Mahoney  was  born  in  Hardwick,  on  May  9,  1862,  going 
with  his  parents  soon  after  to  North  Brookfield,  where  his  father  had 
purchased  a  farm.  Until  he  was  nearly  seven  years  of  age  he  was  an 
exceptionally  robust,  active  boy,  when  an  accident  befell  him.  He 
was  bedridden  for  four  years.  That  no  studying  was  possible  during 
this  period  is  obvious.  He  gained  gradually  during  the  next  year 
and  was  able  to  do  some  studying,  though  under  difficult  conditions, 
for  he  was  often  pain  racked,  but  it  was  considerable.  During  this 
time  he  started  to  teach  his  younger  sister  drawing,  he,  who  had 
never  been  taught  himself  and  his  method  was  of  the  approved  method 
of  the  present  day. 

At  twelve  years  he  resumed  school  work,  with  his  old  class,  the 
group  with  whom  he  studied  when  he  was  stricken  five  years  previ- 
ously. His  teacher  at  this  stage  was  Miss  Emma  Whiting.  At 
fourteen  he  entered  North  Brookfield  High  School,  where  the  late 
Mr.  Charles  M.  Clay  and  Miss  Emily  M.  Edson  were  his  teachers. 
Here  his  story  can  be  left  to  later  chapters,  where  those  who  knew 
him  well,  will  continue  his  career. 


8  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

That  Man,  who  is  from  God  sent  forth, 

Doth  yet  again  to  God  return? 
Such  ebb  and  flow  must  ever  be, 

Then  wherefore  should  we  mourn? 

—William  Wordsworth. 

Why  if  the  Soul  can  fling  the  Dust  aside, 

And  naked  on  the  Air  of  Heaven  ride. 
Wer't  not  a  Shame  for  him  x 

In  this  clay  carcase  longer  to  abide? 

—Omar  Khayydm. 

Life!  we've  been  long  together 
Through  pleasant  and  through  cloudy  weather; 
'Tis  hard  to  part  when  friends  are  dear — 
Perhaps  'twill  cost  a  sigh,  a  tear; 

Then  steal  away,  give  little  warning, 
Choose  thine  own  time; 
Say  not  Good  Night, — but  in  some  brighter  clime 

Bid  me  Good  Morning. 

Death,  of  course,  is  always  a  tragedy,  but  there  were  peculiarly  sad 
notes  in  the  fate  of  James  Mahoney.  It  was  well  known  that  he  was 
on  the  eve  of  a  promotion  to  a  broader  and  higher  sphere  of  activity 
in  educational  circles. 

An  intensely  home  loving  man,  he  was  destined  to  die  alone,  among 
strangers,  2,000  miles  from  home.  The  announcement  to  his  people 
came  like  a  crash  of  thunder  in  blazing  sunshine;  no  inkling  of  even 
illness  preceding  the  telegraphic  news.  He  had  attended  the  con- 
vention of  the  National  Education  Association  at  Oakland,  California, 
in  1915,  where  he  read  a  paper  on  a  technical  subject  and  was  on  his 
way  home. 

He  had  always  cherished  the  hope  of  seeing  Pike's  Peak,  Colorado. 
So  his  second  stop  on  his  way  home  was  at  Colorado  Springs,  on 
August  31.  Next  day  he  went  on  to  Manitou  and  ascended  Pike's 
Peak  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  trip.  A  card  from  him  mailed  at 
the  top  of  the  Peak  said  "A  boyhood  wish  realized." 

He  announced  at  the  hotel  that  he  would  undertake  a  trip  to 
Crystal  Park  the  next  day.  He  bought  a  ticket  but  never  used  it. 
He  complained  the  following  (Thursday)  morning  of  feeling  ill 
(September  2)  and  at  his  request  was  taken  to  a  doctor,  who  diagnosed 
his  trouble  as  angina  pectoris,  a  grave  heart  lesion.  He  improved 
greatly  under  treatment,  doing  finely  through  Thursday  and  Friday. 
Saturday  noon  he  took  some  nourishment  and  seemed  to  be  progress- 
ing. Indeed,  Mahoney  wrote  home  to  his  sisters  (Saturday  A.M.) 
that  though  he  was  under  the  weather,  they  should  not  worry  as  he 
had  the  best  of  care  and  a  good  doctor.  His  attendant  looked  in 
several  times  after  he  had  lunch,  but  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  peaceful 
sleep  and  so  he  quietly  withdrew.  When  the  doctor  called  about  3, 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  9 

he  too,  thought  him  in  a  profound  sleep,  but  a  closer  examination 
revealed  the  fact  that  "God's  finger  had  touched  him,  and  he  slept." 
September  4,  1915. 

"  And  that  clear-featured  face 
Was  lovely,  for  he  did  not  seem  as  dead, 
But  fast  asleep,  and  lay  as  tho'  he  smiled." 

The  funeral  service  at  the  Gate  of  Heaven  Church  in  South  Boston 
was  a  notable  remembrance.  The  pastor,  Rev.  Robert  J.  Johnson, 
was  celebrant;  Rev.  John  O'Connell,  deacon,  and  Rev.  Waldo  Hasen- 
fuss,  subdeacon.  Seated  in  the  sanctuary  were  Rev.  John  J.  McCoy 
of  Worcester;  Rev.  Owen  M.  McGee  of  Springfield;  Rev.  Leo  F. 
O'Neill,  St.  John's  Seminary,  Brighton;  Rev.  J.  B.  Donahue,  Monson; 
Rev.  Francis  J.  Hughes,  Cambridge;  Rev.  John  S.  Keating,  S.  J., 
Boston  College;  and  Rev.  Thomas  F.  McCarthy  of  Somerville. 

Numerous  civic,  business  and  professional  societies  sent  large 
delegations;  the  mourners  included,  besides,  what  may  be  called  a 
representative  section  of  Boston  society. 

The  body  bearers  were:  Mr.  Basil  Gavin,  James  E.  Maguire, 
Esq.,  Dr.  Thomas  F.  Leen,  Mr.  John  McCarthy,  Dr.  John  F.  O'Brien, 
Mr.  George  G.  Wolkins. 

The  honorary  pall  bearers  were:  Arthur  H.  Dakin,  Esq.,  Rev. 
Charles  F.  Weeden,  Dr.  A.  V.  Lyon,  Dr.  E.  M.  Greene,  Mr.  C.  E. 
Kelsey,  Mr.  A.  M.  Alvord,  Rev.  Herbert  D.  Ward,  Judge  Joseph  H. 
Sheehan,  Postmaster  William  F.  Murray,  Hon.  John  J.  Mitchell, 
Dr.  Augustine  J.  Bulger,  Hon.  T.  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Hon.  James  J. 
Phelan,  Dean  Homer  Albers,  Mr.  J.  Templeton  Coolidge,  Rev. 
Herbert  S.  Johnson,  Hon.  Frank  B.  Sanborn. 

The  burial  was  in  North  Brookfield,  Mass. 

Prayers  at  the  grave  were  offered  by  Rev.  Robert  J.  Johnson  of 
South  Boston,  Rev.  Owen  M.  McGee  of  Springfield  and  Rev.  Edward 
Judge  of  North  Brookfield. 

The  bearers  at  North  Brookfield  were  fully  representative  towns- 
people, Mr.  J.  Henry  Downey,  Mr.  Frank  B.  Mahoney,  Mr.  George 
O.  Rollins,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Batcheller,  Timothy  Howard,  Esq.,  and 
Mr.  Edward  McEvoy. 

The  honorary  bearers  were:  Mr.  Basil  Gavin,  James  E.  Maguire, 
Esq.,  and  Dr.  Thomas  F.  Leen. 

Death  is  the  crown  of  life. 

— Young. 

JAMES  W.  McCoY. 


CHAPTER  II 

Friendship  is  like  the  Sun's  eternal  rays:  No  daily  benefits  exhaust 
its  flame.  It  still  is  given  and  still  burns  the  same. 

— James  Mahoney. 

There  is  nothing  perhaps  more  revealing,  as  to  character,  than  what 
may  be  called  the  day-by-day  correspondence  between  friends;  that  is  the 
incidental,  often  sketchy  treatment  of  topics  of  common  knowledge.  A 
few  such  letters  are  appended,  most  of  them  coming  at  crises,  either 
family,  class  or  similar  occasions,  not  dealing  with  matters  of  general  or 
public  interest. 

OLD  LETTERS  FROM  FRIENDS  PERTAINING  TO  THE  FAMILY: 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

October  3,  1888. 
MR.  MAHONEY, 

My  dear  Friend: 

Your  note,  received  two  or  three  weeks  ago,  was  very  welcome, 
and  I  should  have  replied  sooner,  but  did  not  know  your  address. 

You  are  quite  right  in  supposing  that  I  should  be  interested  to 
hear  of  your  appointment.  Ever  since  I  knew  you  as  a  schoolmate 
of  my  own  son,  I  have  watched  your  progress  with  interest,  and  been 
pleased  to  hear  of  your  success.  I  do  think  that  you  have  fairly  won 
all  the  success  you  have  had,  and  not  only  by  industrious  application 
made  yourself  worthy  of  them,  but  by  a  conscientious  earnestness  of 
life  and  purpose  which  are  certainly  not  too  common  among  young 
men,  though  I  do  believe,  from  what  I  know  of  the  young  men  in  our 
colleges  at  the  present  day,  as  compared  with  those  of  my  youthful 
days,  that  there  has  been  no  falling  off,  to  say  the  least,  in  these 
respects. 

That  you  will  carry  this  conscientious  earnestness  into  your  new 
work,  I  cannot  doubt,  and  for  that  reason  shall  always  be  glad  to  see 
you  in  positions  of  responsibility. 

You  did  not  mention  the  studies  which  you  are  to  teach,  or  what 
your  work  is  to  be.  When  you  find  time  and  opportunity  to  call  on 
us,  which  will,  I  trust,  be  soon,  I  shall  be  interested  to  hear  all  about 
your  new  place  and  work. 

*          *          *          *          * 

Mr.  Duncan  sends  kind  regards.  I  forgot  to  say  that  I  told  James 
when  he  came  to  spend  a  day  or  two  with  us  at  the  close  of  his  vacation, 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  11 

of  your  recent  appointment,  and  he  seemed  much  pleased,  and  would 
doubtless,  wish  me,  on  his  behalf,  to  congratulate  you.  Col.  Cooke, 
also,  when  I  told  him,  expressed  much  gratification,  and  is  heartily 
glad  in  your  success. 

Hoping  to  see  you  before  long,  I  remain  as  ever, 
Your  sincere  friend, 

HARRIET  E.  DUNCAN. 

P.  S. — My  Mother  and  Mrs.  Cooke  send  kind  regards  and  congrat- 
ulations. 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

October  9,  1897. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

I  feel  guilty  for  not  sooner  acknowledging  your  kind  and  delightful 
hospitality  which  I  assure  you  was  much  enjoyed  both  by  Mr.  Duncan 
and  myself.  But  my  eyes  do  not  permit  me  to  write  in  the  evening, 
and  the  days  have  been  pretty  full,  so  that  to  my  shame  it  must  be 
admitted  that  of  the  four  families  whose  hospitality  we  received  while 
in  Boston,  only  one  has  thus  far  received  acknowledgment  since  our 
return.  The  weather  has  been  beautiful,  and  I  have  felt  it  almost  a 
sin  not  to  improve  it  to  the  utmost.  Writing  letters,  sewing,  or  any 
indoor  work  seems  a  cruel  rejection  of  Nature's  hospitality  when  she 
lavishes  on  hill  and  vale  and  woodland  such  decorations,  and  pours 
forth  such  beauty  for  the  entertainment  of  her  children.  So  I  have 
lured  Mr.  Duncan  out  for  a  drive  almost  every  afternoon,  and  when 
I  could  not  do  that  have  often  taken  the  horse  myself  and  gone  forth, 
with  a  friend  to  bear  me  company.  On  one  of  our  drives  I  called  on 
your  mother.  I  think  she  is  delightful;  I  saw  your  father  for  a  few 
minutes,  also.  I  never  fairly  saw  his  face  before.  How  sunny  and 
benevolent  and  kind  it  is !  Oh,  that  there  were  more  such  people  in 
the  wrorld  as  your  father  and  mother!  But  most  of  the  people  are 
scrambling  for  something  or  other  which  is  beyond  their  reach  and  so 
miss  the  peace  and  virtue  and  goodness  which  they  might  have.  I 
think  you  are  a  worthy  son  of  your  father  and  mother.  I  believe  you 
have  kept  yourself  unspoiled  in  heart  and  life.  It  was  pleasant  to 
hear  your  mother's  hearty  endorsement  of  some  things  I  said.  She 
spoke  with  pleasure  of  your  occasional  visits  home,  and  I  know  they 
are  the  events  of  her  life,  as  the  visits  of  my  children  are  to  me. 
*  *  *  *  * 

Mr.  Duncan  and  Mrs.  Cooke  send  kind  regards. 
Sincerely  yours, 

HARRIET  E.  DUNCAN. 


12  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

March  25,  1902. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

It  was  a  beautiful  note  which  I  received  from  you  the  other  day- 
I  am  sorry  my  own  letter  was  delayed  as  it  was.  It  must  have  made 
me  seem  negligent.  You  did  not  say  one  word  too  much  about  your 
beloved  father.  It  was  very  wrelcome  to  me — every  word  of  your 
filial  tribute.  And  when  we  stop  and  reflect  on  the  real  character  of 
those  lives  (such  as  your  father's)  with  their  unselfishness,  their 
firmness,  their  unflagging  industry,  their  integrity,  their  piety,  and 
their  affection,  are  not  all  the  elements  of  true  greatness  there?  And 
when  you  consider  that  all  over  this  broad  land  there  are  such  numer- 
ous instances  of  that  kind,  and  that  these  men  and  women  have 
trained  their  children  to  walk  in  their  footsteps,  we  need  never  despair 
of  our  country.  I  am  sure  that  your  father  must  have  enjoyed  a 
great  deal,  and  have  found  a  rich  rewrard,  in  the  character  and  success 
of  his  children.  Such  parents  live  their  lives  over  again  in  their 
children,  and  in  their  goodness,  their  advantages,  and  their  success, 
find  compensation  for  anything  which  in  their  own  lives  they  may  have 
missed. 

It  was  a  very  kind  thought  of  yours — taking  your  mother  to  Boston. 
She  could  not  be  as  constantly  reminded  there.  I  hope  she  has 
received  much  benefit  from  it. 

***** 

I  hope  you  will  call  and  see  me  whenever  you  can.  I  realize  that  a 
great  responsibility  has  come  upon  you,  and  that  your  mother  and 
your  sisters  must  lean  wholly  on  you.  I  shall  be  very  much  interested 
in  the  future  movements  of  your  family.  I  presume  your  mother 
could  not  feel  that  she  can  ever  call  any  place  home,  except  the  pretty, 
sequestered  nook  where  she  has  lived  so  many  years.  I  can  imagine 
that  it  must  be  very  dear  to  you  all.  I  always  felt,  when  I  went  there, 
a  peculiar  charm  about  the  location.  It  seemed  as  if  I  had  suddenly 
come  upon  a  bird's  nest,  I  was  there  before  I  knew  it.  But  delightful 
as  the  place  is  in  the  summer,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  inconveniences 
in  winter  for  the  girls,  must  be  very  great,  especially  now  that  your 
father  is  no  more  there  to  keep  your  mother  company  during  their 
absence.  It  is  a  great  pleasure,  and  a  surprise  too,  to  know  that  your 
father  showed  such  an  interest  in  my  husband  and  myself.  I  shall 
be  glad,  some  time,  to  speak  to  you  about  a  visit  when  we  found  him 
alone,  and  he  was  sole  host.  .  .  . 

Mrs.  Cooke  desires  a  kind  remembrance  to  you.  Please  give  my 
love  to  your  mother  and  sisters. 

Most  cordially  yours, 

HARRIET  E.  DUNCAN. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  13 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

December  7,  1906. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

The  knowledge  of  your  dear  mother's  death  came  to  me  Tuesday 
afternoon  and  I  deeply  regret  that  I  did  not  hear  of  it  soon  enough  to 
pay  my  tribute  of  respect  and  honor  to  her  memory,  with  others,  on 
Monday. 

She  was  a  woman  of  great  dignity  and  nobility  of  character  I  am 
sure,  and  the  memory  of  such  a  mother  will  always  be  a  blessing  to 
you  and  your  sisters. 

You  have  my  true  sympathy  in  your  great  loss,  for  my  sister  and 
I  had  also  a  most  excellent  father  and  mother.  You  certainly  have 
much  to  be  thankful  for  in  the  consciousness  that  you  and  your  sisters 
have  been  so  devoted  to  your  mother  and  done  so  much  for  her  com- 
fort and  happiness. 

Your  consolation  now  will  be  in  the  certainty  that  she  has  exchanged 
all  the  anxieties  and  pain  and  sorrow  for  a  blessed  life  with  those  who 
have  gone  before  and  those  who  are  sometime  to  follow  her. 

May  you  be  comforted  and  helped  to  bear  this  loss  which  is  unlike 
any  other  that  can  come  to  you. 

Very  truly  your  friend, 

F.  E.  COOKE. 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

March  22,  1904. 
DEAR  JAMES: 

I  want  you  to  know  that  your  friends  on  the  hill  are  all  greatly 
pleased  to  note  the  mention  of  your  name  in  the  public  prints  for 
the  honor  of  an  elevation  to  the  important  post  of  supervisor  and 
earnestly  hope  that  success  may  attend  the  efforts  of  your  Boston 
friends. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

JOHN  S.  COOKE. 

DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

I  am  very  sorry  for  the  sake  of  yourself  and  your  sister  that  your 
beloved  mother  is  no  longer  with  you.  But  for  her  there  must  be 
joy  in  laying  aside  the  burdens  of  age  and  putting  on  new  life.  It 
will  always  be  a  comfort  to  you  to  remember  that  she  was  with  you 
last  winter. 

I  never  knew  a  son  more  devoted  in  attentions  of  care,  comfort, 
speech  and  honor  to  his  mother  than  yourself.  I  am  most  glad  that 
I  had  the  privilege  of  meeting  her  and  seeing  the  sweet  serenity  of  her 
face  and  the  grace  of  her  affection  for  you. 


14  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Bye  and  bye  when  you  have  again  taken  up  the  old  motives  of  life 
come  and  tell  me  of  her  and  I  shall  gratefully  listen. 
With  much  sympathy, 
Sincerely  yours, 

KATE  GANNETT  WELLS. 

COMMONWEALTH  AVENUE.,  BOSTON,  MASS. 
December  3,  1906. 


DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

Your  letter  reached  me  just  as  I  was  leaving  Campobello,  so  please 
pardon  me  for  the  enforced  delay  in  writing  you. 

I  have  gladly  written  Mr.  Conley  as  you  requested  and  do  earnestly 
hope  that  you  will  be  elected. 

Then  your  friends  will  rejoice  for  you  and  the  schools  will  acquire 
a  most  able  and  scholarly  counsellor. 

I  hope  you  have  had  a  pleasant  summer  and  that  your  honored 
mother  is  well. 

Sincerely  yours, 

KATE  G.  WELLS. 
OWLS  HEAD,  MAINE. 
September  24. 


HOTEL  WESTMINSTER 

COPLEY  SQUARE 

BOSTON 

December  9,  1906. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

Mrs.  Shaw  and  I  were  sorry  to  hear  of  your  dear  mother's  death 
and  we  wish  to  extend  to  you  our  most  heartfelt  sympathy.  Words, 
of  course,  can  afford  very  little  consolation  at  such  a  time,  and  yet 
I  think  that  the  knowledge  that  our  friends  feel  for  us,  sympathize 
with  us,  and  would  willingly  help  us,  if  they  could,  must  be  somewhat 
of  a  palliative  for  our  grief.  You  are  of  course,  to  be  commiserated 
in  the  severance  of  the  very  strong  earthly  bonds  between  you  and 
your  mother,  but  I  think  you  are  also  to  be  congratulated  in  that 
you  can  always  bear  with  you  the  remembrance  that  you  have  always 
borne  yourself  with  rare  filial  devotion  and  that  there  can  be  abso- 
lutely nothing  with  which  to  reproach  yourself. 
Please  convey  our  sympathy  also  to  your  sisters. 
Yours  very  truly, 

H.  C.  SHAW. 


JAMES   MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  15 

DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

Your  grief  and  your  research  rival  each  other.     Thank  you  very 
much  for  looking  up  the  word,  and  writing  me  where  it  occurs. 
I  am  proud  to  have  a  friend  who  knows  his  Dante  so  well. 
Sincerely  yours, 

KATE  G.  WELLS. 

COMMONWEALTH  AVENUE,  BOSTON,  MASS. 
March  28. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

You  and  your  sister  have  my  sincerest  sympathy  in  one  of  the 
greatest  trials  this  world  can  give  us.  For  when  the  mother  goes — 
whether  it  be  early  or  late — the  loss  of  that  ever  present  all  absorbing 
love  seems  for  a  time  to  make  life  empty.  But  the  "  Communion  of 
Saints"  makes  us  sure  that  it  goes  on  for  us  forever,  even  if  our 
mortal  faculties  cannot  perceive  it.  It  must  be  a  consoling  and  happy 
thought  that  you  were  able  to  give  her  the  joy  of  being  near  you  before 
she  was  called  away.  Your  note  was  the  first  notice  I  had,  and  I  am 
glad  you  felt  that  I  was  sufficiently  a  friend  to  be  made  aware  of  your 
sorrow.  My  kindest  regards  to  your  sister,  who  must  surely  be 
happy  too  in  the  remembrance  of  her  long  years  of  devotion,  and 
believe  me 

Faithfully  yours, 

MARY  ELIZABETH  BLAKE. 
212  BEACON  STREET,  BOSTON. 
December  19,  1906. 

THEODORE  C.  BATES, 
29  HARVARD  ST., 
WORCESTER,  MASS. 

WORCESTER,  MASS., 
February  20,  1907. 
JAMES  MAHONEY,  ESQ., 

North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY  : 

Your  letter  of  December  9,  1906,  was  remailed  to  me  to  Kansas 
City,  Mo.,  and  then  again  forwarded  to  me  to  Chicago. 

I  deeply  sympathize  with  you  and  your  sisters  in  the  loss  of  your 
dear  mother.  She  and  my  mother  were  very  good  friends  I  well 
remember,  and  I  recall  the  pleasant  things  she  mentioned  to  me  after 
her  last  visit  to  your  mother. 

Mother  Bates  lived  to  the  good  old  age  of  92.  The  last  fifteen 
years  of  her  life  she  was  with  me  much  of  the  time,  I  was  her  youngest 
son,  and  fortunately  was  so  situated  that  I  could  see  that  she  had 


16  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

many  comforts,  especially  during  the  winter  months.  Her  birthday 
was  May  3,  and  she  always  planned  to  be  at  her  own  home  in  North 
Brookfield  on  that  day,  and  then  spent  much  of  her  time  there  until 
Thanksgiving  Day,  after  which  she  lived  with  us  until  spring.  She 
was  very  fond  of  her  old  friends  who  patiently  overlooked  her  deafness 
as  your  good  mother  always  did.  With  the  aid  of  her  trumpet  your 
mother  could  converse  with  Mother  Bates  and  kindly  chatted  with 
her  freely  about  old  times. 

You  will  miss  your  mother,  James,  more  and  more,  no  one  will  ever 
take  her  place  in  your  life  and  affections.  No  matter  where  you  are — 
nor  how  many  years  from  now  her  face  and  loving  ways  will  haunt 
you  as  my  mother's  do  me — more  and  more  as  the  years  roll  by. 
Old  Father  Time  may  eliminate  the  memory  of  others,  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree.  New  duties,  new  cares,  new  acquaintances  may 
absorb  your  thoughts,  but  the  sweet  face  and  life  of  your  mother  will 
claim  possession  of  your  thoughts,  day  and  night,  bringing  to  you 
most  delightful  memories  of  her  and  the  many  happy  hours  you  have 
had  with  her  and  the  many  kind  words  of  her  encouragement. 
Nothing  on  earth  will  ever  afford  you  the  same  satisfaction  and  solace 
as  your  mother's  love.  We  can  never  have  but  one  mother — and 
how  thankful  we  should  be  that  we  are  permitted  to  retain  in  our 
memory  so  many  beautiful  thoughts  of  her,  and  of  her  loving  kindness. 
In  our  early  life  she  was  almost  "omnipotent,  omniscient  and  omni- 
present," for  our  welfare. 

You  have  left  your  sisters,  be  good  to  them.  They  come  near  your 
mother's  place. 

I  thank  you  for  your  very  thoughtful  letter  and  the  kind  words 
you  write.  May  you  and  your  sisters  be  spared  to  each  other  for 
many  long  years  of  mutual  happiness  and  tender  affectionate  love  is 
the  sincere  wish  of  your  old  friend.  Remember  me  most  kindly  to 
them. 

Yours  truly, 

THEODORE  C.  BATES. 


Ambition  reigns 

In  the  waste  wilderness:  the  Soul  ascends 
Drawn  towards  her  native  firmament  of  Heaven. 

Rarely  and  with  reluctance  would  I  stoop 

To  transitory  themes;  yet  I  rejoice, 

And,  by  these  thoughts  admonished,  will  pour  out 

Thanks  with  uplifted  heart  that  I  was  reared 

Safe  from  an  evil  which  these  days  have  laid 

Upon  the  children  of  the  land,  a  pest 

That  might  have  dried  me  up,  body  and  soul. 

This  verse  is  dedicated  to  Nature's  self, 

And  things  that  teach  as  Nature  teaches: 


THE  OLD  HOME 


HOME  AGAIN 


THE  OLD  ELM  BEHIND  THE  HOUSE 


ON  THE  TOP  OF  PRITCHAUD  HILL 


VIEW   ON   COY'S   HILL 
(Camera  too  small  to  "pick  up"  the  distant  view) 


LAKE  WICKABOAG  IN  WEST  BROOKFIELD 
King  Massasoit  lived  in  an  Indian  Village  situated  where  the  observer  is  supposed  to  stand 


THE  WEXIMISSET  VALLEY 
this  valley  the  massacre  took  place  in  167£ 


OOK  WHICH  FLOWS  AROUND  THE  ISLAND  ON  WHICH  STOOD  KINO  PHILLIP'S  CAMP 


WHITEFIELD  STOOD  ON  THIS  ROCK  IN  1740  AND  PREACHED  TO  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  BBOOKFIELD 
ASSEMBLED  IN  THE  SURROUNDING  FIELDS 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  RESERVATION  ON  "INDIAN  ROCK"  FARM 


HOUSE  WHERE  Lucv  STONE  WAS  BORN  AND  MRS.  BEAMAN,  NIECE  OF  Lucy  STONE 


SITE  OF  SEROT.  JOHN  AYRES'  CABIN  WHICH  WAS  BESIEGED  BY  THE  INDIANS  IN  1675 
The  man  is  Mr.  Henry  Ayres,  a  lineal  descendant  of  John  Ayres 


A  BROOKFIELD  FARMER 
AND  HIS  DOG 


OLD  TAVERN  AT  WEST  BROOKFIELD 
Washington  and  Lafayette  were  entertained  here 


STONE  MARKING  SITE  OF  KING  PHILLIP'S  "INDIAN  ROCK"  FROM  BEHIND  WHICH  THI 

CAMP  IN  1675  INDIANS  FIRED  ON  Ann'  CABIN 


PRINCE 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  17 

Or  draws,  for  minds  that  are  left  free  to  trust 

In  the  simplicities  of  opening  life, 

Sweet  honey  out  of  spurned  or  dreaded  weeds. 

And  O  ye  Fountains,  Meadows,  Hills,  and  Groves, 

Forbode  not  severing  of  our  loves ! 

Yet  in  my  heart  of  hearts  I  feel  your  might; 

I  only  have  relinquished  one  delight 

To  live  beneath  your  more  habitual  sway. 

I  love  the  brooks  which  down  their  channels  fret, 

Even  more  than  when  I  tripped  lightly  as  they; 

The  innocent  brightness  of  a  new-born  day 

Is  lovely  yet; 

The  clouds  that  gather  round  the  setting  sun 
Do  take  a  sober  coloring  from  an  eye 
That  hath  kept  watch  o'er  man's  mortality; 
Another  race  hath  been,  and  other  palms  are  won. 
Thanks  to  the  human  heart  by  which  we  live, 
Thanks  to  its  tenderness,  its  joys,  and  fears, 
To  me  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  can  give 
Thoughts  that  do  often  lie  too  deep  for  tears. 

The  power, 

which  all 
Acknowledged  when  thus  moved,  which 

Nature  thus 

To  bodily  sense  exhibits,  is  the  express 
Resemblance  of  that  glorious  faculty 
That  higher  minds  bear  with  them  as  their  own. 

—William  Wordsworth. 


A  SUMMER  ON  A  BROOKFIELD  FARM 

I  was  anxious  to  go  to  North  Brookfield  this  summer  for,  not  only 
was  it  the  home  of  my  boyhood,  but  this  year  it  celebrates  the  two 
hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  first  settlement.  So,  when  the 
glass  at  Thompson's  Spa  stood  at  93°,  I  took  the  first  train  for  the 
Quaboag  country.  The  train  steadily  ascends  till  at  North  Brook- 
field  we  are  1,000  feet  above  the  sea  at  Boston. 

Beneath  the  elms  and  silver  poplars,  surrounded  by  apple  and 
pear  trees,  how  beautiful  in  my  eyes  is  the  little  old  house,  where  I 
grew  from  babyhood  to  young  manhood. 

How  lovely  are  the  trees,  how  fine  the  hills,  how  deep  and  green 
the  grass,  how  clean  and  cool,  and  sweet  the  air;  no  dust,  no  smoke, 
and  a  nice  breeze  blowing. 

Here,  then,  I  am  to  be  for  five  weeks.  Early  morning  and  late 
afternoon  I  climb  the  hills  and  revel  in  their  charms.  Nowhere, 
save  in  New  England,  has  every  spot  a  character  of  its  own.  The 
great  corn  fields,  and  wheat  fields  of  the  West  are  for  a  thousand 
miles  the  same,  they  are  monotonous  in  their  immensity  and  richness. 


18  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Here,  every  valley,  field  and  hillside,  every  brook  and  wood  is  a 
personal  friend.  Then,  too,  everything  is  so  lovely.  The  lines,  the 
forms,  the  masses,  the  colors  are  infinitely  varied;  and  charm  by 
their  good  proportions  and  pleasant  contrasts.  And  such  hills! 
The  White  Mountains  are  much  higher,  the  Berkshires  more  pictur- 
esque, the  Rockies  are  far  grander,  but  here  the  hills  never  shock  you 
by  being  jagged  or  terrible.  Climb  a  high  tree,  look  across  the  sur- 
rounding country:  The  hills  break  into  waves  and  the  waves  into 
countless  crests;  and  as  you  watch  them  now  they  seem  to  rise  and 
fall,  and  be  alive,  and  their  only  purpose,  to  please. 

Here  at  the  old  homestead  I  got  my  first  vision  of  the  past,  my 
first  lesson  in  history.  Beyond  the  house,  Pritchard  Hill  rises  slowly 
from  the  roadside,  and  up  its  side  extends  an  ample  lane.  At  the 
head  of  the  lane  huge  elms,  a  barn,  and  the  cellar  of  a  house,  long  since 
gone.  To  this  spot,  on  Sundays,  would  come  a  tall,  slender,  old  man, 
who  would  linger  for  hours  by  the  old  ruin  and  weep.  One  day  I 
cautiously  approached  him  and  learned  that  his  name  was  William 
Hale,  that  this  had  been  the  home  of  his  family  for  generations.  That 
his  great-grandfather  had  been  driven  from  Boston  by  the  English 
before  the  American  Revolution,  that  coming  to  Brookfield  he  had 
built  a  manor  house  on  this  spot  and  had  been  made  justice  of  all 
the  district  round.  He  had  served  in  the  Revolution;  and  I  saw  his 
commission,  signed  in  the  bold  handwriting  of  John  Hancock.  Later 
I  read  the  old  man's  diary,  giving  an  account  of  various  trials  held 
before  him  as  justice.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill,  long  after,  lived  Joseph 
Tucker,  who,  when  his  sons  went  to  the  war  in  '61,  sold  his  land  to 
my  father  and  removed  to  the  village.  So,  while  still  a  boy,  I  had  a 
long  look  into  the  past. 

The  old  township  was  eight  miles  square,  including  what  are  now 
North  Brookfield,  South  Brookfield,  W:est  Brookfield,  New  Braintree 
and  Warren.  Here  for  weeks,  during  the  glorious  summer,  I  sit 
upon  the  hills,  and  walk,  and  drive  from  site  to  site,  and  from  shrine 
to  shrine. 

As  I  stand  on  Coy's  Hill,  the  rich  afternoon  sun  shines  on  the  living 
landscape  of  Quaboag.  Way  down  in  the  valley  gleams  the  level 
water  of  Lake  Wickaboag,  and  in  the  distant  southeast  is  the  silver 
surface  of  Quaboag  Pond;  here  and  there  through  the  deeper  valley 
winds  the  Quaboag  River,  into  which  flow  the  many  streams  which 
have  given  the  name  "Brookfield"  to  the  entire  district.  Far  to 
the  north  looms  up  Mt.  Monadnock,  to  the  northeast  Wachusett,  to 
the  south,  Marks  Mountain,  and  in  the  west  the  Holyoke  Range; 
while  in  the  farther  distance  roll  the  blue  forms  of  ever  receding  New 
England  hills. 

As  I  gaze  on  this  valley,  I  indulge  in  a  day-dream  of  by-gone  ages : 
As  the  ice  of  the  glacial  period  melts,  I  can  see  mighty  rivers  fill  these 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  19 

valleys  from  ridge  to  ridge,  tearing  away  the  rocks,  grinding  them 
into  soil,  and  as  the  flood  subsides,  dropping  the  mud  to  the  bottom 
of  the  valleys,  where  it  produces  the  rankest  weeds  and  greenest 
grasses.  Here  for  countless  ages  I  see  the  Quaboag  Indians  roam 
the  hills  and  meadows,  fish  in  these  brooks,  plant  corn  on  these  plains, 
build  their  wigwams  by  the  ponds,  and  yonder,  in  the  Wenimisset 
Valley,  I  see  them  gather  to  defend  their  ancestral  homes,  and  in  the 
dark  ravine  on  the  edge  of  the  valley  I  see  them  with  uplifted  toma- 
hawks and  with  fierce  screams,  massacre  the  white  men.  In  the 
middle  ground,  rises  Foster  Hill,  whither  in  1675  the  remnant  of  the 
band  of  Captain  Wheeler  retreated  after  the  massacre,  and  where  for 
three  days  and  nights,  in  Sergeant  John  Ayres'  cabin,  they  were 
besieged  by  the  howling  savages,  who  kept  up  a  ceaseless  shower  of 
arrows  and  bullets  from  the  meeting  house,  from  the  barn,  and  from 
"Indian  Rock."  But  a  rescuing  party  came,  and  although  for  ten 
years  the  Whites  then  abandoned  these  hills,  they  came  again  with 
greater  power  and  determination.  King  Philip's  War,  the  Indian 
War  of  Independence  from  the  Whites,  had  been  fought  and  lost  by 
the  Red  Men.  In  the  great  swamp  in  Wenimisset  Valley  may  still 
be  seen  evidences  of  the  old  Indian  village,  where  stood  the  camp  of 
King  Philip,  and  it  seems  salutary  to  sit  here  upon  the  mound  and 
review  this  old  history  with  the  eye,  and  with  the  mind  of  King 
Philip.  It  will  not  be  hard  to  find  some  fellow  feeling  for  this  old 
Red  Man,  who  saw  the  homes  of  his  fathers  being  seized  by  the  power- 
ful Whites.  To  be  sure  these  Indians  had  "sold"  the  land,  but  what 
did  fee  simple  mean  to  the  Indian  mind?  Did  it  mean  to  give  up 
forever  ponds  and  brooks  where  he  had  fished,  and  plains  where  he 
had  planted  corn,  the  means  by  which  he  lived?  Only  too  late  did 
that  conception  enter  the  Indian  mind.  In  fifty  years  the  Indians 
had  practically  disappeared,  leaving  little  behind  save  arrowheads, 
and  round  holes  in  the  hillsides  called  "barns,"  where  they  stowed 
their  winter's  food. 

One  thing  that  catches  the  eye  of  the  traveller  especially  is  the 
great  network  of  stone  walls  which  covers  the  entire  region.  The 
thoughtless  traveller  thinks  not  of  the  ceaseless  toil  which  built  these 
walls,  drained  the  meadows,  cleared  the  lands,  built  sawmills,  grist- 
mills, schoolhouses  and  churches.  No  more  forceful  community 
existed  in  the  new  world  than  this  of  Brookfield.  Brookfield  men 
took  a  prominent  part  in  all  the  great  events  and  movements  of  our 
national  history.  In  the  French  and  Indian  War,  and  in  the  American 
Revolution,  Francis  Stone  and  Rufus  Putnam  led  sturdy  troops  of 
men  from  these  Brookfields.  In  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Francis 
A.  Walker  was  only  the  most  distinguished  among  many.  Yonder 
in  the  valley,  below  my  house,  by  the  old  Mill  Brook,  was  the  mill  in 
which  Rufus  Putnam  received  his  earliest  lessons  in  the  handling  of 


20  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

tools,  lessons  which  stood  him  in  such  good  stead  later,  when,  by 
Washington's  request,  he  fortified  Dorchester  Heights.  On  the 
brow  of  Coy's  Hill  is  the  old  Stone  homestead,  where  Lucy  Stone,  a 
descendant  of  Francis  Stone,  was  born;  and  over  in  the  village  is  the 
old  home  of  Amasa  Walker,  the  distinguished  father  of  Francis  A. 
WTalker.  The  old  folks  are  gone,  but  the  hills  still  stand,  and  the 
grasses  still  grow  in  ancient  Brookfield,  and  those  who  reverence 
New  England,  will  hardly  find  a  more  interesting  historic  district, 
or  a  more  charming  place  in  which  to  spend  a  summer. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 
Written  in  1910. 

The   photographs   used    in    this    article  were    taken    by   James 
Mahoney. 


CHAPTER  III 

I  knew  him  first  a  boy,  bright-eyed,  alert, 
His  face  rippling  with  laughter,  and  his  heart 
So  full  of  sympathy  for  everything 
That  lived,  he  could  not  bear  the  sight  of  pain 
Or  wrong.     He  knew  the  world  was  made  for  love, 
And  love  he  gave  and  took  where'er  it  came, 
Unconscious,  innocent.     And  when  life's  cares 
Began  for  him  he  met  them  with  a  grace 
That  turned  them  into  blessings. 

—C.  E.  Bell. 

EARLY  SCHOOL  DAYS 
"Still  sits  the  schoolhouse  by  the  road, 

***** 

Around  it  still  the  sumacs  grow, 
And  blackberry  vines  are  running." 

Abandoned  now,  "long  years  ago"  nearly  forty  pupils  assembled 
there.  Up  the  long  steep  hill  I  rode  one  golden  September  morning, 
to  take  charge  of  this  school. 

Looking  over  my  new  field,  I  noticed  a  pair  of  crutches  leaning 
against  a  desk.  Beside  them  sat  a  boy  with  a  rare  face,  fair  as  a  girl's, 
thoughtful,  earnest  and  with  an  expression  of  dignity  and  lofty  purpose 
unusual  in  one  so  young.  He  gave  me  his  name,  James  Mahoney, 
and  his  age  twelve  years. 

James  was  one  of  a  class  of  four  boys,  near  in  age  and  well  matched 
in  ability  and  ambition.  Honest,  faithful,  studious,  they  prepared 
their  lessons  with  joy  and  gladness  and  recited  with  a  vim  exhilarating 
to  the  teacher.  Unhampered  with  any  course  of  study,  they  pursued 
their  way  up  the  hill  of  knowledge  at  their  own  pace.  Fractions  and 
decimals  were  soon  thoroughly  mastered  and  in  due  time  square  root 
and  cube  were  attacked  and  vanquished.  How  those  boys  parsed  and 
how  they  spelled  and  defined  words  with  their  synonyms.  Then  when 
Greenleaf 's  arithmetics,  mental  and  written,  were  finished  to  the  last 
puzzling  example  the  class  passed  a  very  satisfactory  examination  and 
entered  the  high  school. 

The  noble  traits  of  character  manifest  in  his  early  school  days 
remained  with  James  Mahoney  through  life.  The  boy  was  father  of 
the  man. 

EMMA  WHITING. 
NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS. 
November  9,  1916. 


22  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

ENGLISH  HIGH  SCHOOL,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I., 

July,  1916. 

In  the  little  white  schoolhouse  of  District  No.  4,  North  Brookfield, 
Mass.,  away  back  in  the  early  70's  of  the  last  century,  began  my  boy- 
hood association  with  James  Mahoney. 

Bert  Bigelow,  my  brother  Cyrus,  James  and  I  formed  a  quartet  of 
boys  who,  in  1875,  were  inspired  by  the  best  teacher  we  ever  had,  in 
that  school,  Miss  Emma  Whiting,  to  go  to  high  school.  Well  do  I 
remember  the  day  when  we  four  walked  the  leafy  wood  road  at  noon 
of  a  June  day,  debating  the  question — to  go  or  not  to  go.  James  was 
most  eager  for  it,  and  we  all  made  the  decision  which  meant  so  much 
for  our  future. 

In  high  school  James'  fine  mind  and  high  character  began  to  un- 
fold. Cut  off  by  his  lameness  from  the  active  sports  of  the  other  boys, 
his  mind  naturally  dwelt  more  upon  his  studies,  and  he  usually  led  the 
class.  In  keenness,  clearness,  power  of  concentration  and  originality 
he  excelled  us  all. 

But  he  was  not  merely  a  "good  scholar."  Every  realm  of  human 
thought  attracted  him,  and  his  active  mind  began  to  range  through  all 
of  them .  Many  is  the  conversation  we  had  together  on  the  questions  of 
philosophy,  religion,  and  morals,  as  we  hung  over  the  window  sill  of 
the  boys'  coat  room  at  recess,  or  walked  to  and  from  the  schoolhouse. 
When  graduation  day  came  the  title  of  his  valedictory  essay,  "Ad 
Quern  Finem"  showed  in  what  direction  his  thought  was  turned,  and 
the  essay  was  profound  for  a  boy  hardly  eighteen  years  old. 

In  our  junior  year  came  the  question  of  Greek,  which  was  at  that 
time  required  for  admission  to  all  the  colleges.  James  seized  upon  it 
at  once  as  the  key  which  would  admit  him  to  that  wider  intellectual 
life  which  his  mind  craved.  Of  all  our  studies  I  think  he  shone  most 
brilliantly  in  that.  The  precision,  the  exactness,  the  elegance,  and 
the  fine  shades  of  thought  of  the  Greek  all  appealed  to  him,  and  his 
mind  leaped  out  to  meet  them,  so  to  speak. 

As  we  were  not  fully  prepared  for  college  by  our  high  school  course, 
James  spent  the  summer  after  graduation — the  summer  of  1880 — in 
study.  Once  in  college,  his  brilliant  scholarship  attracted  attention 
from  all  his  instructors,  and  made  him  one  of  the  leaders  of  his  class. 

I  was  a  year  behind  James  in  college,  but  was  intimately  associated 
with  him,  and  I  never  knew  any  one  more  eager  to  go  to  the  bottom  of 
every  question — to  find  the  truth;  nor  anyone  more  keenly  apprecia- 
tive of  the  world's  best  literature.  We  roomed  together  in  his  junior 
and  my  sophomore  year,  and  on  many  a  fall  and  winter  evening  of 
that  year  a  group  gathered  in  our  room  to  read  aloud.  I  remember 
his  great  enjoyment  of  Byron  and  Shelley,  as  well  as  Victor  Hugo. 

Of  late  years  our  lives  had  drifted  apart,  and  we  seldom  met.  It 
was  a  cause  of  great  regret  to  all  his  high  school  classmates  that  he  was 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  23 

in  the  West  on  the  date  of  our  thirty-fifth  aniversary  reunion  at  North 
Brookfield,  last  July.  We  sent  him  a  message  of  remembrance  at  the 
time,  and  when  we  learned  of  his  untimely  death  soon  after,  we  hoped 
that  it  had  been  a  source  of  comfort  and  happiness  to  him  to  have 
received  it. 

SIDNEY  A.  SHERMAN. 
AMHERST,  1885. 

JAMES   MAHONEY'S   AND    SIDNEY   SHERMAN'S   PARTS   IN   THE 
GRADUATION  EXERCISES  OF  THE  NORTH  BROOKFIELD 
HIGH  SCHOOL,  1880 

Metrical  Reading — "The  Wrangle  of  Agamemnon  and  Achilles  (in 
Greek) 

James  Mahoney  and  Sidney  A.  Sherman 
French  Dialogue — "Le  Medecin  Malgre  de  Lui"     (Moliere) 

James  Mahoney  took  the  part  Sganarelle,  mari  de  Martime 

Sidney  A.  Sherman  took  part  of  Valere 
Valedictory  Oration — "Ad  Quern  Finem," 
James  Mahoney 

"  The  Essays  were  well  received,  that  of  the  valedictorian  being  the 
most  meritorious,  and  credit  is  due  to  both  participants  in  the  Greek 
reading,  and  to  nearly  all  in  the  French  dialogue;  in  fact,  the  audience 
seemed  even  better  pleased  with  these  exercises  in  foreign  language 
than  those  in  their  native  tongue. " — North  Brookfield  Journal. 

The  following  is  in  reply  to  a  letter  by  James  Mahoney  on  an  abstruse 
point  in  Greek.  Mahoney  was  at  the  time  seventeen  years  of  age. 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASS., 

April  16,  1879. 
DEAR  SIR: 

You  have  fairly  convicted  me  out  of  my  own  mouth  on  the  matter 
of  the  future  of  67rXtfco.  It  is  clear,  of  course,  that  if  I  give  the 
sentence  which  you  point  out  in  my  Greek  Lessons  I  must  add  the 
future  of  the  verb  in  the  vocabulary.  Thank  you  for  pointing  out  the 
discrepancy.  I  shall  be  very  much  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  send  me 
corrections  of  the  Key. 

I  hope  in  the  course  of  the  year  to  make  a  new  edition  of  my  Les- 
sons on  a  more  elementary  plan.  My  present  purpose  is  to  make  no 
references  to  Mr.  Goodwin's  grammar,  but  to  incorporate  all  the  state- 
ments of  grammar  in  the  book  itself. 

I  should  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  would  send  me  any  suggestions 
which  would  help  me  in  this  work. 

Very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  WILLIAMS  WHITE. 


24  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

I  take  pleasure  in  commending  Mr.  James  Mahoney  to  any  one  who 
may  be  seeking  a  fit  man  for  the  position  of  High  School  principal. 

I  have  known  Mr.  Mahoney  in  his  course  of  preparation  in  our  high 
school,  and  have  followed  him  with  much  interest  during  his  collegiate 
course  at  Amherst.  In  both  places  he  has  shown  himself  a  diligent 
and  able  student,  and  a  young  man  of  excellent  moral  character  and 
high  aims.  From  both  schools  he  has  graduated  with  honors. 

I  believe  he  will  make  a  faithful  and  successful  teacher  and  that  his 
influence  in  the  school  room  would  be  stimulating  and  helpful. 

S.  P.  WILDER, 
Pastor,  First  Congregational  Church 

and  Member  of  School  Committee. 
NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS. 
July  16,  1884. 

The  Class  of  '80  of  the  North  Brookfield  High  School  wish  to  express 
to  you  their  deepest  sympathy  in  this  time  of  sorrow  when  you  lose  a 
brother  and  we  a  beloved  classmate. 

We  regretted  exceedingly  that  James  could  not  be  with  us  this  sum- 
mer at  our  reunion  and  our  grief  is  much  deeper  now  as  we  realize  we 
can  never  look  upon  his  face  again  and  hear  from  his  own  lips  of  the 
work  that  he  has  done. 

We  are  proud  that  we  have  had  such  a  classmate  who  has  done  so 
much  to  make  the  world  better  by  his  life  and  works,  and  we  shall  ever 
cherish  his  memory. 

YOUR  FRIENDS  AND  His  CLASSMATES: 

President 

CHARLES  E.  BATCHELLER 

North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
Secretary 

LAURA  MILLER  GROUT, 

East  Bridgewater,  Mass. 

CYRUS  T.  SHERMAN, 

Quincy,  Mass. 
SIDNEY  A.  SHERMAN, 

Providence,  R.  I. 
BERT  E.  BIGELOW, 

Worcester,  Mass. 
LIZZIE  M.  TUCKER, 

North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
MINNIE  L.  LYTLE, 

North  Brookfield,  Mass. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  25 

To  THE  DEAR  SISTERS  OF  A  NOBLE  BOY  : 

One  of  my  own  boys,  the  boy  who  has  been  in  my  mind  during  all 
the  years  since  '78  when  I  knew  him  for  a  short  time,  but  of  whose 
career  I  had  entirely  lost  trace.  But  the  instant  I  saw  the  name  and 
picture  in  the  Globe  of  Tuesday,  I  recognized  my  own  dear  student  in 
the  North  Brookfield  High  School,  and  as  I  read  the  account  of  his 
grand  achievements  I  was  not  surprised,  but  I  was  grateful  that  I  once 
knew  the  young  man. 

His  was  an  unusually  attractive  face  and  personality;  quiet,  un- 
pretentious, but  very,  very  winning. 

It  filled  my  heart  with  grief  to  read  of  his  untimely  death  and  my 
sympathy  goes  out  to  the  sisters  who  are  bereaved  of  such  a  brother. 
Very  sincerely, 

D.  N.  PUTNEY. 
PUTNAM,  CONN. 

September,  1915. 

MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  had  only  three  or  four  months  of  personal  acquaintance  with 
James— as,  at  the  close  of  the  first  term  I  accepted  the  principalship  of 
Monson  Academy.  Some  two  years  later  I  was  obliged  to  get  out  of 
the  educational  current  for  a  time  and  when  I  took  up  the  work  again 
it  was  in  South  Carolina. 

From  these  causes,  I  lost  trace  of  the  careers  of  nearly  all  the  stu- 
dents at  Leicester,  North  Brookfield  and  Monson.  When  I  read  of 
the  death  of  this  fine  young  man  and  of  the  remarkable  achievements 
he  had  made,  I  understood  better  than  ever  before  why  his  personality 
had  made  such  an  impression  upon  me  in  one  short  term  and  that, 
too,  when  he  came  under  my  instruction  in  only  one  study,  geometry. 

Always  in  the  intervening  years  when  I  would  be  thinking  of  stu- 
dents of  earlier  days,  the  personality  of  that  young  fellow  would  loom 
large  in  my  recollection  and  I  would  ask  myself,  "What  of  Mahoney; 
did  he  go  to  college  and  make  a  great  record  there;  and  what  of  him 
since?" 

Of  course  some  of  these  thoughts  and  questions  arose  regarding  other 
students  whom  I  knew  for  a  longer  time  or  had  in  more  classes  or 
studies.  But  it  was  Mahoney's  name  and  career  that  was  ever  in 
my  imaginings.  Why?  I  can  hardly  tell  the  reasons. 

That  fine  face,  broad  brow,  open  nature,  his  obvious  popularity  with 
his  classmates,  the  commendatory  words  of  my  assistant  teacher  who, 
as  I  distinctly  recall,  told  me  I  should  find  in  him  a  delightful  student. 

As  it  happens  I  have  a  small  pocket  class-record  book  of  daily  reci- 
tations, set  down  at  the  end  of  each  recitation.  This  book  seems  to 
have  been  only  a  temporary  one  and  was  used  only  a  few  weeks.  But 


26  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

every  one  of  James'  recitations  is  marked  10,  the  maximum,  the  per- 
fect mark. 

I  value  that  little  book  now.     I  reproach  myself  that  I  did  not 
keep  in  touch  with  him  in  all  the  years  of  his  notable  career.     Dear 
boy;  noble  man,  I  can  lay  claim  to  no  part  in  your  splendid  making; 
but  I  can  share  in  the  pride  of  those  who  did  direct  your  genius. 
Especially  do  I  honor  those  noble-minded  parents  whose  devotion 
and  love  enabled  you  to  attain  so  high  a  place  in  the  service  of  society. 
Hail,  beautiful  spirit,  may  I  meet  you  in  the  Higher. 
Sincerely, 

D.   N.   PUTNEY. 
PUTNAM,  CONN. 

September  10,  1915. 


ENGLISH  HIGH  SCHOOL,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 

September  8,  1915. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
Dear  Friend: 

I  have  just  learned  through  my  brother  Cyrus  of  the  sudden  death  of 
your  brother  James. 

Though  I  had  not  seen  James  for  many  years,  I  retained  my 
affection  for  him,  and  often  thought  of  him  as  my  old  school  and 
college  friend. 

I  think  it  was  his  initiative  that  led  me  to  go  to  college.     He  broke 

the  ice  and  I  followed.     He  made  a  brave  fight  in  school  and  college. 

You  may  know  that  at  the  reunion  of  our  Class  of  '80  at  North 

Brookfield,  July  13  last,  we  who  were  present  sent  a  message  of  good 

cheer  to  James  and  another  absent  member.     I  am  glad  we  did  it,  and 

hope  that  James  had  received  it.     With  sincere  sympathy,  I  am 

Your  old  friend, 

SIDNEY  A.  SHERMAN. 

Miss  MAHONEY: 

• 

I  was  very  much  surprised  to  read  last  evening  in  our  Worcester 
paper  of  the  sudden  death  of  you  brother  James. 

As  you  are  probably  aware  the  Class  of  '80,  N.  B.  H.  S.,  held  very 
recently  their  first  class  reunion  at  the  home  of  Charles  Batchelder 
and  we  all  recalled  many  pleasant  memories  of  James  and  many 
regrets  were  expressed  that  he  was  not  able  to  be  with  us  on  that 
occasion. 

It  was  by  chance  that  I  saw  the  notice  in  yesterday's  paper  and  it 
may  escape  the  attention  of  some  members  of  the  class,  but  I  am  sure  I 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  27 

voice  the  sincerest  sympathy  of  the  membership  of  the  class  for  your- 
self and  sister  Nellie  in  your  great  loss. 

Most  sincerely, 

B.  E.  BIGELOW. 
WORCESTER,  MASS. 

21  Weywood  Street. 


NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

September  12,  1895. 
DEAR  MISSES  MAHONEY: 

Excuse  me  for  intruding  on  your  great  sorrow  but  I  just  had  to  let 
you  know  how  deeply  every  member  of  the  Tucker  Family  feel  for  you 
in  the  loss  of  your  dear  one — the  man  we  had  so  much  respect  and 
admiration  for. 

Yours  in  sorrow, 

CATHERINE  TUCKER. 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

September  12,  1915. 
DEAR  FRIENDS: 

My  family  and  I  extend  to  you  our  sincerest  sympathy  in  your  great 
sorrow.  May  God  be  with  you  and  comfort  you  now  and  always. 

We  also  are  mourning  the  loss  and  feel  that  we  also  have  lost  one 
of  our  dearest  and  best  friends,  one  who  sympathized  in  our  sorrows 
and  rejoiced  in  our  prosperity.  We  shall  cherish  his  memory  to  our 
last  day. 

We  feel  it  was  an  honor  to  be  accepted  as  his  friends. 
Sincerely  yours, 

GEORGE  O.  ROLLINS  AND  FAMILY. 

709  WEST  NORTH  STREET,  FOSTORIA,  OHIO, 

September  11,  1915. 
DEAR  KATE  AND  NELLIE: 

You  have  our  sincere  sympathy  in  this  great  sorrow  that  has  come 
to  you. 

It  is  a  long  time  since  papa  has  been  so  deeply  grieved.  He  says 
that  it  seems  as  though  his  young  brother  had  been  taken  from  him, 
for  that  is  the  way  he  always  looked  upon  Jim. 

It  is  hard,  inexpressibly  hard,  for  you,  but,  though  our  hearts 
break,  we  must  say,  "Thy  will  be  done."  I  will  pray  that  in  time 
He  will  give  you  strength  to  say  it. 

Deepest  sympathy  and  love  from  papa,  John  and  your  loving  cousin, 

SUSIE  MAHONEY  KANE. 


28  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  wish  you  and  your  sister  to  know  that  you  have  my  most  heartfelt 
sympathy  in  the  great  sorrow  that  has  come  to  you. 

The  knowledge  that  the  life  of  your  brother  was  so  noble  brings  with 
it  consolation  and  hope.     Our  religion  helps  us  to  receive  such  sorrow 
with  a  reconciled  spirit.     May  you  have  the  strength  to  bear  your 
great  deprivation.     With  deepest  feeling, 
Sincerely, 

MARGARET  DOYLE  WALLACE. 
FALL  RIVER,  MASS. 
October  13,  1915. 


SAN  DIEGO,  CAL., 
September  20,  1915. 
Miss  KATE  A.  MAHONEY, 

North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  have  just  learned  from  home  of  the  great  sorrow  which  has  come 
to  you  and  your  sister. 

It  is  hard  for  us  to  part  with  our  loved  ones  even  if  we  are  expecting 
and  can  prepare  for  it,  but  much  harder  to  do  so  when  it  comes  in  the 
manner  in  which  this  parting  has  come  to  you,  but  it  is  sweet  tp 
know  that  we  shall  meet  again  in  a  brighter  and  happier  world  where 
partings  shall  be  no  more. 

Please  accept  the  kindest  wishes  and  sympathy  for  yourself  and 
sister. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

ALFRED  C.  STODDARD. 

FRAMINGHAM,  MASS., 
September  12,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  did  not  know  until  a  few  moments  ago  of  the  great  sorrow  which 
had  befallen  you. 

I  feel  that  words  are  but  cheerless  things  at  such  a  time,  but  I  want 
you  to  know,  dear  Miss  Mahoney,  that  you  have  my  deepest  sym- 
pathy. I  only  wish  that  I  were  near  you  where  I  could  help  you  in 
some  way.  You  were  always  so  dear  to  me  that  I  wish  I  could  do 
something  for  you.  With  a  heart  full  of  sympathy  and  love,  I  remain, 
Your  loving  friend, 

HELEN  M.  EATON. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  29 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

September  13,  1915. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY  AND  SISTER: 

Our  hearts  are  full  of  sympathy  for  you  in  your  sorrow.  May  God 
give  you  strength  to  bear  it! 

It  will  be  a  comfort  to  you  to  know  that  he  was  a  man  of  so  great 
ability  and  so  highly  esteemed. 

With  love, 

MARION  S.  BUSH. 

WALPOLE,  MASS., 
September  12,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

Accept  my  sincere  sympathy  for  you  in  the  great  loss  of  your 
brother. 

I  read  of  his  funeral  in  the  Globe  and  feel  that  he  was  a  brother  of 
whom  you  might,  indeed,  be  proud.  However  that  makes  it  all  the 
harder  to  give  him  up.  Am  truly  sorry  for  you,  Miss  Mahoney. 

Sincerely, 

CHARLOTTE  DALEY. 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

September  12,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  feel  I  want  to  send  you  and  your  sister  a  few  lines,  so  you  may 
know  that  Dr.  and  I  sympathize  with  you  in  this  great  loss  that  has 
come  to  you.  It  is  so  sad,  and  such  a  loss,  not  only  to  you  and  sister, 
but  to  all  who  knew  him,  and  I  always  feel  that  such  a  person's  influ- 
ence must  affect  even  those  whom  they  have  not  known. 

My  heart  aches  for  you  at  this  sad  time,  and  I  wish  I  could  write 
something  that  would  comfort  you.     Only  this  I  have  to  send  you. 
Th.e  Eternal  God  is  our  refuge,  and  underneath  it  all,  are  the  Ever- 
lasting Arms.     May  He  help  you  and  give  you  strength  to  bear  it  all. 
Lovingly  and  with  sympathy  from  Dr.  and  myself. 

ANNIE  I.  PROUTY. 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

September  11,  1915. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  was  so  sorry  to  hear  of  the  death  of  your  brother,  and  I  want 
to  send  you  my  love  and  sympathy  at  this  time.  With  kindest 
remembrances. 

Affectionately, 

KATHRYN  P.  WINCHELL. 


30  JAMES   MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS., 

September  9,  1915. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

We  were  very  sorry  to  hear  of  the  sudden  death  of  your  brother.     It 
must  have  been  a  great  shock  to  you  both. 

When  we  think  how  devoted  you  three  were  to  one  another,  then  we 
realize  how  great  your  affliction  must  be.     It  is  not  often  that  one 
sees  such  love  and  devotion  among  sisters  and  a  brother. 
I  hope  you  will  have  strength  to  bear  your  burden. 
You  have  our  sincere  sympathy  in  your  great  loss. 
Lovingly, 

M.  ALICE  CONVERSE, 
INEZ  W.  CONVERSE. 

God  calls  our  loved  ones,  but  we  lose  not  wholly 

What  he  hath  given; 
They  live  on  earth  in  thought  and  deed  as  truly 

As  in  His  Heaven.  — J.  G.  Whittier. 

Such  was  the  Boy — but  for  the  growing  Youth 

What  soul  was  his,  when,  from  the  naked  top 

Of  some  bold  headland,  he  beheld  the  sun 

Rise  up,  and  bathe  the  world  in  light!     He  looked — 

Ocean  and  earth,  the  solid  frame  of  earth 

And  ocean's  liquid  mass,  in  gladness  lay 

Beneath  him: — Far  and  wide  the  clouds  were  touched, 

And  in  their  silent  faces  could  be  read 

Unutterable  love.    Sound  needed  none, 

Nor  any  voice  of  joy;  his  spirit  drank 

The  spectacle:  sensation,  soul,  and  form, 

All  melted  into  him;  they  swallowed  up 

His  animal  being;  in  them  did  he  live, 

And  by  them  did  he  live;  they  were  his  life. 

In  such  access  of  mind,  in  such  high  hour 

Of  visitation  from  the  living  God, 

Thought  was  not;  in  enjoyment  it  expired. 

No  thanks  he  breathed,  he  proffered  no  request; 

Rapt  into  still  communion  that  transcends 

The  imperfect  offices  of  prayer  and  praise, 

His  mind  was  a  thanksgiving  to  the  power 

That  made  him;  it  was  blessedness  and  love! 

— Wittiam  Wordsworth. 

Bright  flower!  for  by  that  name  at  last, 
When  all  my  reveries  are  past, 
I  call  thee,  and  to  that  cleave  fast, 

Sweet  silent  creature! 
That  breath'st  with  me  in  sun  and  air, 
Do  thou,  as  thou  are  wont,  repair 
My  heart  with  gladness,  and  a  share 

Of  thy  meek  nature!  —Wordsworth. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  31 

"Of  course  in  our  youth  many  of  our  thoughts  are  fanciful  and 
many  of  our  plans  unpractical  but  the  spirit  that  animates  them  is 
pure  then  if  ever,  if  the  divinity  ever  whispers  to  mortals  it  is  at  the 
dawn  of  young  manhood.  If  the  rose  forms  opinions  will  they  not  be 
optimistic  when  'tis  budding  into  bloom  and  pessimistic  as  it  withers?" 

JAMES  MAHOXEY. 

Herewith  is  a  collection  of  some  of  Mahoney's  compositions,  when  a 
pupil  in  the  high  school,  opening  with  a  discussion  of  the  women  suf- 
frage question,  when  the  writer  was  fifteen  years  of  age.  "Suffrage" 
was  then  a  rather  new  subject  and  the  world  has  since  learned  much 
about  "votes  for  women." 

OUGHT  WOMEN  VOTE? 

Perhaps  it  is  with  presumption  that  I  thus  prematurely  write 
upon  a  subject  of  so  great  importance.  But,  yet,  alone  and  unad- 
vised, I  will  attempt  to  vindicate  my  opinion  in  the  face  of  the 
accumulated  wisdom  of  opposing  arguments.  "Ought  women  to 
vote?"  is  a  question  that  is  now  causing  a  great  turmoil  throughout 
the  civilized  world. 

I  have  no  spirit  of  prophecy  to  foretell  the  result  of  this  agitation. 
I  leave  prophecy  entirely  to  the  other  side.  But,  judging  from  past 
and  present  circumstances,  it  is  my  opinion  that  this  strife  will  cause 
a  temporary  evil  influence;  but  will  ultimately  result  in  good,  by 
enabling  both  sexes  to  perceive  its  true  position. 

In  order  to  answer  this  question,  we  will  have  to  consider  the 
relative  character,  necessities  and  nature  of  man  and  woman.  This 
estimation  of  nature  is  not  determined  by  Janus-like  looking  on  two 
sides,  but  is  determined,  as  any  commonsense  man  or  woman  would 
determine  it,  by  looking,  observing  and  studying  on  all  sides. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  I  would  waste  time  in  attempting  to  prove 
that  man  and  woman  were  not  intended  for  separate  parties,  as  some 
woman's  right  agitators  would  make  it  appear.  Nothing  in  nature 
is  more  obvious  than  that  their  existences  were  destined  to  flow 
together:  all  phases  of  life,  from  the  insect  to  the  human  race,  attest 
it. 

But,  as  they  are  two  beings,  the  same  Almighty  Hand  that  formed 
them,  that  gives  simplicity  and  law  to  all  the  works  of  nature,  from 
the  lowest  to  the  grandest,  we  would  suppose  would  give  them 
faculties  to  perform  separate  duties.  Neither  would  be  able  to 
perform  the  duties  of  both,  and  that  infinitely  wise  Mind,  that  divides 
and  distributes  the  functions  of  all  the  creation,  we  find  has  done  so 
here. 

Every  sensible  person  must  acknowledge  that  man  and  woman  are 


32  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

essentially  different.  Physiology,  anatomy,  phrenology,  common 
sense,  all  tell  us  that  in  their  very  structure  they  differ  greatly.  They 
tell  us  that  woman  is  of  a  finer,  a  more  delicate,  and  a  more  com- 
plicated constitution,  and,  consequently,  more  liable  to  be  deranged. 

They  also  tell  us  that  man  is  of  a  rougher,  a  sterner  and  a  more 
robust  mould.  And  out  of  the  very  fitness  of  things,  man  was  clearly 
destined  to  brave  and  buffet  with  the  storms  of  existence,  while 
woman  was  intended  for  its  nicer  and  more  delicate  work.  Thus, 
each  has  its  own  faculties,  each  has  its  own  position  suitable  to  those 
faculties,  each  has  its  own  nature.  And  we  cannot  pervert  our 
nature  without  it  resulting  in  destruction  and  dissolution.  If  we 
deviate  slightly  from  the  nature  of  our  bodies,  disease  will  follow; 
if  we  persevere,  death  will  be  the  result. 

It  is  folly  to  attempt  to  do  anything  for  which  we  have  not  the 
capabilities.  Disaster  is  sure  to  follow.  But  some  persons  have 
somehow  received  the  idea  that  if  woman  does  not  occupy  the  same 
position  as  man,  that  she  is  degraded  and  considered  an  inferior. 
This  is  certainly  an  error.  The  highest  position  that  any  creature 
or  any  force  in  the  universe  can  occupy  is  that  which  God  gives  it 
power  to  fill. 

The  fishes  belong  to  their  own  element;  the  birds  of  the  air  to  theirs; 
the  beasts  of  the  field  are  distributed  according  to  their  nature  and 
each  would  die,  or,  at  least  cease  to  prosper,  when  taken  out  of  its 
own  element:  and  in  my  humble  opinion,  woman  would  debase 
herself  were  she  to  descend  to  man's  position.  But  because  man  or 
woman  has  special  qualifications  in  particular  directions,  it  does  not 
follow  that  they  are  devoid  of  faculties  in  all  others. 

All  the  professions  and  pursuits  of  life  are  intimately  connected 
in  their  higher  development;  each  branch  of  wisdom  is  joined  with 
every  other;  and  thus,  the  strength  of  any  of  our  faculties  depends 
greatly  upon  the  strength  of  the  others.  So  it  is  with  man  and  woman : 
each  has  some  talent  to  follow  the  pursuits  of  the  other.  If  they  had 
not  this  power  to  some  degree,  they  could  not  execute  their  own 
requirements  with  success. 

Also,  there  are  exceptions  to  the  general  nature  of  man  and  woman, 
as  there  are  to  all  rules.  There  are  masculine  women  and  imbecile 
men.  And  those  favoring  Woman's  Rights  triumphantly  point  out 
those  exceptions  and  pretend  to  call  them  the  rule.  They  tell  you 
of  the  Amazons,  a  race  of  female  warriors,  having  no  more  of  the 
characteristics  of  their  sex  than  is  possessed  by  wild  beasts,  and  whose 
reported  cruelties  could  only  have  been  exceeded  by  the  males  of  the 
same  race. 

From  the  dawn  of  history  until  the  present  day,  and  in  all  stages 
of  life,  wherever  brute  strength  is  dominant,  where  might  makes 
right,  we  find  woman,  from  her  physical  incapacity  to  cope  with  man, 
we  find  her  in  a  wretched  condition,  in  degrading  thralldom. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  33 

From  the  old  nations  that  bought  and  sold  them  as  slaves;  to 
England  in  later  days,  which  allowed  her  women  to  be  publicly 
whipped  in  the  streets,  or  subjected  them  to  the  ducking-stool; 
where  a  son  might  see  his  mother  half-drowned  and  treated  worse 
than  a  disobedient  dog;  the  same  cruelty  we  find  them  exposed  to 
among  our  American  Indians,  and  amongst  all  savages,  and  we  find 
the  sainted  Mormons,  who  are  a  disgrace  and  a  stigma  to  our  Union, 
bartering  their  women  like  swine  and  cattle. 

But  the  world  has  considerably  advanced  from  such  horrors :  but 
mark  the  fact  that  it  is  civilization  and  Christianity  that  has  effected 
this  change  in  the  condition  of  woman.  It  is  by  civilization  that 
she  has  reached  her  present  position,  and  it  is  by  civilization  that  she 
ought  to  advance  still  further.  Civilization  is  the  true  lever  by 
which  she  can  move  the  world. 

The  higher  she  raises  man,  the  higher  she  raises  herself.  Ignorance, 
immorality  and  vice  are  her  deadly  foes.  Is  it  this  that  the  woman 
righters  realize?  Is  it  for  this  that  she  desires  to  vote?  Does  she 
wish  to  free  herself  from  slavery?  Does  she  wish  to  right  her  wrongs? 
Ah!  But  I  ask  you  if  her  greatest  wrongs  are  not  self-imposed? 
The  majority  of  women  are  moral  slaves,  are  willing  dupes  of  the 
king  of  fashion.  They  follow  his  dictates  without  reason  and  without 
protest.  What  is  the  common  belle  of  society  but  a  mixture  of  paint, 
rouge,  flounces,  trails,  tie-ups,  pull-backs  and  bang-downs?  And  do 
those  women  that  thus  destroy  the  fruits  of  toil  and  industry,  that 
thus  tolerate  this  outrage,  this  mockery  of  decency,  of  justice,  of 
morals,  of  health,  of  economy,  do  they  lift  up  their  languid  eyes  and 
ask  to  vote,  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  commonwealth,  when 
fashion  and  scandal  are  the  grandest  subjects  that  can  fill  their  minds? 

This  is  an  evil  that  is  holding  them  down,  and  even  were  it  one  of 
their  rights  to  vote,  this  would  be  a  great  preventive.  This  is  an 
evil  that  causes  a  great  deal  of  misery  and  misunderstanding  between 
the  two  races.  It  is  an  evil  that  degrades  her  condition,  and  weakens 
her  in  mind  and  body. 

A  short  time  since,  an  honest  believer  in  the  good  old  times,  said 
to  me:  "Why,  our  wimmen  are  gettin'  so  tinder  we'll  have  to  wrap 
im  up  in  cotton."  But  would  that  the  evil  ended  here,  would  that  I 
had  no  more  of  the  depravity  of  her  nature  of  which  to  speak. 

But  we  cannot  be  ignorant  of  painful  truth  when  it  plainly  glares 
in  our  eyes.  An  age  of  impurity  and  of  lust  has  come  upon  the 
world.  Every  newspaper  is  laden  with  crimes,  that  have  hitherto 
been  nameless,  we  cannot  look  upon  society  without  becoming  aware 
of  the  fact. 

This  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  lower  walks  of  life.  It  is 
fostered  and  nourished  by  power  and  position.  Society  is  beset 
by  a  race  of  feminine  vipers  who,  under  an  extremely  thin  fabric  of 


34  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

decency,  are  sucking  the  very  life  blood  of  humanity.  They  destroy 
beauty,  holiness  and  religion;  they  cherish  corruption,  licentiousness 
and  vice.  They  destroy  the  spiritual  life  of  the  world.  They  bring 
back  the  brute  passions  of  man,  and  blight  the  holiest  flames  of  his 
bosom.  They  pull  down  destruction  and  ruination  upon  their  own 
race. 

Should  these  women  vote,  whom  would  they  vote  for?  Would  it 
be  for  those  that  would  benefit  their  race  or  their  country?  These 
women  voted  in  Wyoming.  To  be  sure  the  governor  stated  other- 
wise. Poor  man  he  knew  his  position  depended  upon  their  votes, 
but  judges  and  other  impartial  men  have  contradicted  him. 

Here  is  where  woman  might  right  her  wrongs.  Here  in  her  own 
ranks  are  the  seducers  of  her  race  and  the  disgracers  of  womankind. 
Here  is  a  self  imposed  wrong.  Here  she  turns  her  powerful  influence 
against  the  only  means  by  which  she  can  raise  herself. 

But  in  thus  speaking  of  the  bad,  I  must  not  entirely  overlook  the 
good.  A  little  good  should  cheer  and  encourage  a  brave  and  honest 
heart  more  than  a  great  evil  can  depress  it. 

I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  fact  that  for  many  years  all  good  and 
noble-minded  women  have  been  greatly  improving  the  morals  of 
the  world,  with  excellent  results.  They  have  done  much  to  suppress 
the  liquor  curse  and  the  filthy  use  of  tobacco;  they  have  done  much 
to  renovate  and  cleanse  the  world  from  the  sickly  pools  of  vice  and  sin. 

I  acknowledge  that  "taxation  without  representation"  has  a  harsh 
sound.  But  here,  as  elsewhere,  we  will  have  to  sift  the  sense  from 
the  sound.  Every  married  lady  in  the  land  is  represented  in  her 
husband,  or  at  least  that  affair  depends  upon  her,  her  husband  is 
represented  in  the  government  of  the  country,  therefore  she  is 
represented  in  the  government. 

There  are,  indeed,  widows  and  unmarried  ladies,  but  these  are 
exceptions,  and  surely,  laws  cannot  be  made  for  exceptions:  but, 
blush,  my  country,  blush  for  very  shame  when  you  would  injure 
those,  in  person  or  property. 

I  cannot  think  and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  majority  of  good  and 
intelligent  women  would  wish  to  vote;  but  those  that  do  must 
remember  that  should  they  vote  they  would  have  to  take  all  the 
responsibility  that  a  vote  involves.  All  those  agitators  seem  agreed 
that  man  is  naturally  stronger  than  woman,  and  the  history  of  the 
world  proves  it. 

But,  now,  can  it  be  possible  that  an  intelligent  Creator  would 
give  more  physical  force  to  man,  and  not  give  him  more  of  that  kind 
of  mental  power  that  is  necessary  for  the  management  of  force? 
We  would  be  surprised  were  we  to  see  a  wagoner  entrust  his  team  to 
a  man  that  is  not  able  to  manage  it,  but  how  preposterous  to  impute 
this  to  the  God  of  nature,  who  governs  everything  in  the  universe 


JAMES   MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  35 

with  exact  laws,  descending  to  the  minutest  particulars,  to  the  one 
ten-millionth  of  a  hair's  breadth  does  he  fit  everything  by  His  com- 
pensation laws  exactly  in  their  places. 

Do  not  let  it  be  understood  that  I  say  that  woman  is  mentally 
inferior  to  man.  In  the  mental  faculties  that  are  necessary  to  her 
nature  she  is,  of  course,  his  superior,  while  he  is  superior  in  the 
qualifications  necessary  to  his  own  sphere. 

It  is  a  common  fact  that  boys  are  more  proficient  in  mathematics, 
logic,  government  and  law;  while  literature,  classics,  music  and  the 
more  delicate  arts  are  more  congenial  to  her  mind.  The  nations, 
and  more  particularly  America,  are  devoting  more  time  and  money 
to  the  education  of  women. 

A  woman's  influence  is  being  found  to  be  all-powerful,  that  she 
holds  in  her  hands  an  enormous  power  for  good  or  evil,  I  may  say 
that  she  almost  has  charge  of  the  morals  of  the  country.  The 
mother's  influence  extends  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land;  it  molds  the  opinions  and  stamps  the  minds  of  the  nation. 
And  as  education  is  the  hand-maid  of  religion  and  of  all  cultivation, 
the  country  is  beginning  to  realize  that  in  order  to  give  it  the  best 
and  greatest  effect,  that  influence  must  be  educated. 

But,  returning,  to  the  main  question,  voting  would  render  woman 
liable  to  fill  any  position  in  the  land,  from  the  government  of  the 
army  to  the  protection  of  the  peace;  it  would  require  her,  in  time  of 
war,  to  shoulder  the  musket  and  fight  in  the  ranks.  And  if  thus 
for  the  protection  of  the  country  she  would  use  her  strength,  why 
not  for  the  advancement  of  the  country,  to  till  the  soil,  to  work  as  a 
laborer  on  public  works,  to  work  as  a  carter,  a  mason  and  a  carpenter? 

The  conclusion  is  just,  logical  and  inevitable.  An  honorable 
gentleman  has  stated  that  the  mouth  is  not  all  there  is  to  a  river, 
and  suggests  the  hospital  and  numerous  other  duties  she  might 
perform  in  time  of  danger.  I  cordially  agree  with  him  and  state, 
moreover,  that  woman  is  the  secret  power  and  life  of  the  country.  I 
recognize  the  invaluable  assistance  that  she  lends  at  such  times. 

Her  patriotism  is  just  as  pure  as  her  husband's,  her  sacrifice,  just 
as  great.  In  the  expressive  language  of  the  poet: 

"The  mother  who  conceals  her  grief, 
While  to  her  breast  her  son  she  presses, 
Then  breathes  a  few  brave  words  and  brief 
Kissing  the  patriot  brow  she  blesses, 
With  no  one  but  her  secret  God, 
To  know  the  grief  that  weighs  upon  her, 
Sheds  holy  blood  as  e'er  the  sod 
Received  on  freedom's  6eld  of  honor!" 

But  notice  that  it  is  in  her  proper  position  that  she  can  lend  such 
assistance,  as  the  gentleman  unconsciously  admits  when  he  suggests 
the  hospital.  Should  woman  vote,  she  would  not  be  allowed  to 


36  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

remain  in  the  hospital,  any  more  than  man,  as  well  as  him  she  would 
be  sent  to  the  front  to  be  butchered.  That  is  their  requirements 
would  bring  her  into  physical  competition  with  man. 

But  that  is  exactly  where  she  has  been  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world.  That  is  where  ignorance,  barbarism  and  cruelty  has  placed 
her.  But  mark,  mark  the  infinite  wisdom  of  the  plan  that  would  force 
woman  out  of  her  position;  that  would  now  in  the  morning  of  her 
hope,  when  she  sees  upon  the  heights  above  her,  the  zenith  of  her 
glory,  radiating  in  the  fullness  of  her  virtue  and  purity,  resplendent 
in  the  fulfillment  of  those  designs  that  the  creator  impressed  upon 
her  very  soul:  O,  what  injustice,  what  fiendish  inhumanity  that  (re- 
mainder lost). 

WHAT  MAKES  GREAT  MEN? 

We,  as  mortals,  judging  from  a  human  standpoint,  must  acknowl- 
edge that  man  has  accomplished  much,  has  made  wonderful  advance- 
ment in  the  things  that  tend  to  raise  and  exalt  him  in  his  position  as 
man.  So  also  might  the  ant  or  the  spider  pride  himself  on  the  works 
of  his  race. 

But  when  we  take  a  broader  view,  and  compare  man's  works, 
with  the  boundless,  omnipotent  works  and  forces  of  nature,  we  can 
only  comprehend  the  nothingness  of  all  earthly  creatures.  Man  sees 
the  lightning  flashing  in  the  sky;  he  beholds  the  light  and  darkness 
successively  enshroud  him:  he  feels  the  gravitation  bearing  him  to 
the  earth;  on  the  dark  waters  of  the  deep  he  knows  North,  South, 
East  and  West  from  the  indications  of  the  compass. 

But  does  he  know  the  origin  of  light  or  darkness?  Can  he  compre- 
hend that  power  that  binds  him  to  the  earth?  The  magnet  and  the 
compass  teach  him,  but  who  taught  the  compass?  Can  he  tell 
whence  came  his  very  existence?  Knows  he  what  life  is?  He  may, 
indeed,  define  one  thing  in  terms  of  another,  but  when  he  endeavors 
to  find  the  origin  of  it  all,  he  is  lost.  The  infinitely  great  and  the 
little  are  both  eternities  to  him,  they  are  far  beyond  his  reach. 

What  knowledge  he  has  must  be  of  the  middle  ground  upon  which 
he  exists;  all  his  greatness  must  be  confined  to  it,  and  his  knowledge 
of  what  is  beyond,  must  be  derived  from  the  likeness  of  that  to  this, 
or  from  revelation.  When  we  read  the  proverbs  of  Solomon,  we 
readily  perceive  that  his  wisdom  lay  in  his  deep  and  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  nature,  of  mankind,  and  in  his  experienced  deductions  from 
that  knowledge. 

When  we  read  Shakespeare,  we  observe  that  his  greatness  was 
founded  upon  his  knowledge  of  nature,  in  his  delineations  of  human 
passions;  then  in  drawing  his  own  mighty  conclusions  from  all  of 
which,  he  has  been  styled  the  greatest  of  poets,  of  dramatists  and  of 
orators. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  37 

The  astronomers  that  could  discern  the  laws  that  regulated  the 
heavenly  bodies,  have  been  called  wise,  and  esteemed  great,  in  all 
ages.  The  old  philosophers,  cogitating  upon  nature,  cried  "Eureka" 
when  they  discovered  some  of  her  secrets,  and  esteemed  that  knowl- 
edge above  silver  and  gold. 

The  painters,  sculptors,  poets  and  orators  that  could  depict, 
naturally,  the  various  phases  of  earth  and  sky,  and  the  different 
emotions  of  the  human  breast,  either  in  their  works  actually  trans- 
cribed from  nature,  or  those  of  their  own  conception,  have  been 
accounted  great  in  all  times. 

If,  then,  those  persons  that  could  describe  the  mere  surface,  the 
mere  outward  appearances,  were  great,  how  much  greater  those 
persons  must  have  been,  that  could  not  only  appreciate  the  outward 
forms,  but  could  penetrate  beneath,  show  their  hidden  beauties  and 
the  powers  that  moved  and  animated  them. 

Thus,  taking  the  world's  great  men  in  a  body,  we  find  that  the 
gigantic  figures  in  science,  in  literature  and  in  art,  were  the  persons 
that  communed  with  nature,  and  drew  their  knowledge  from  her, 
and  as  we  move  down  the  long  line  of  figures,  we  find  that  as  they 
departed  from  her,  they  degenerated,  till  many  of  them  have  ended 
in  the  regions  of  fancy,  fiction  and  sentimental  twaddle.  Then  it 
is  not  a  wonderful  or  a  supernatural  sense,  nor  a  knowledge  of  things, 
of  which  we  know  nothing,  that  is  needful  to  make  men  great,  but  it  is 
good,  sturdy,  penetrating  common  sense. 

It  is  a  sense  that  can  judge  of  the  things  that  are  lying  all  about  us, 
that  are  staring  us  in  our  very  eyes,  day  after  day;  things  that  all, 
but  fools,  cannot  fail  to  perceive,  and  which,  all  but  fools,  ought 
to  observe  and  study. 

Common  sense  is  necessary  for  success  in  any  walk  in  life,  whether 
it  be  simple  or  elaborate,  high  or  low,  because,  as  we  have  seen,  it 
lies  at  the  very  root  of  everything  that  is  worth  striving  for. 

Common  sense  is  the  only  thing  that  can  simplify  the  intricacies 
of  Philosophy,  of  Botany,  of  Geology,  of  Greek,  of  Latin,  of  Juris- 
prudence, of  the  Mathematics,  of  Ethics,  of  Calisthenics  or  of  any 
other  pursuit  that  engages  the  attention  of  men. 

For  when  we  come  down  to  prime  principles,  the  greatest  philoso- 
phers in  the  world  can  only  say,  "It  is  because  it  is  so,"  for  which  proof 
they  trust  the  evidence  of  their  senses.  If  we  continue  the  theory, 
we  can  only  prove  the  second  step  by  the  first,  or  some  other  equally 
true;  and  thus  continue  it,  till  it  branches  out  into  all  the  knowledge 
that  man  possesses. 

It  would  be  folly  to  deny  that  the  mental  gifts  of  men  differ,  but 
at  the  same  time  I  firmly  believe  that  the  difference  between  the 
majority  of  persons,  and  the  greatness  of  most  great  men,  is  due  more 
to  industry  and  common  sense  on  their  own  part,  than  to  any 


38  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

extraordinary  original  endowment;  also,  when  fully  developed,  if  one 
person  should  be  superior  to  another  in  some  of  his  faculties,  he 
would  be  inferior  in  others  and  that  in  the  same  department  men's 
knowledge  would  differ  more  in  amount,  than  in  kind. 

Then,  it  is  necessary  at  first  that  a  person  be  not  a  fool,  and  I  am 
of  the  opinion  that  God  made  but  very  few  fools,  and  then  it  is 
essential  that  he  should  study  and  work  to  gain  common  sense, 
which  consists  in  knowing  things  to  be  what  they  are. 

It  is  needful  at  the  very  beginning,  that  he  should  overcome 
indolence,  which  is  the  very  image  and  essence  of  Death,  nay  worse, 
it  is  a  fruitful  source  of  crime  and  wickedness.  This  study  cannot 
be  light  and  superficial,  but  must  be  deep  and  penetrating. 

Truth  is  stronger  than  fiction,  and  indefatigable  perseverance  and 
urdor,  that  delights  in  difficulties,  is  the  only  thing  that  can  acquire 
that  truth.  But  in  this  acquisition,  it  is  still  necessary  that  common 
sense  as  well  as  memory  be  used. 

A  person  might  learn  the  dictionary,  word  for  word,  and  repeat 
so  much  of  it,  in  its  regular  order,  when  he  wished  to  say  anything, 
but  it  is  only  a  common  sense  idea  that  can  manipulate  it,  and 
give  it  force  and  power.  Many  animals  can  be  said  to  nearly  equal 
man  in  point  of  memory  and  a  phonograph  is  vastly  better  in  that 
respect,  but  yet  I  find  many  persons  that  persevere  in  learning  their 
lessons  parrot  fashion. 

Therefore  your  work  must  be  earnest  and  comprehensive,  and  to  be 
thus  you  must  have  a  love  of  your  occupation,  which  would  produce 
industry,  which  would  unite  with,  and  strengthen  common  sense, 
would  be  an  excellent  imitation  of  genius.  If  you  have  no  interest 
in  what  you  are  doing,  pretend  you  have,  and,  as  has  been  well  said, 
in  time  you  will  really  have  it.  It  has  been  urged  that  a  love  of  fame 
is  a  wonderful  producer  of  (portion  lost)  unless  he  uses  what  is  given 
him,  the  greatest  genius  is  necessarily  weak  and  useless.  So  if  a  boy, 
at  school,  through  natural  ability,  is  enabled  to  learn  the  ordinary 
lessons  with  greater  ease  than  his  mates,  he  is  apt  to  get  careless  and 
lazy,  makes  no  effort  and  thus  sinks  down  before  he  has  acquired  any 
real  knowledge,  and  waits  for  fortune  to  make  him  a  Milton  or  a 
Kepler. 

So  great  natural  ability  may  be  not  only  a  hinderance,  in  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  but  may  be  the  destruction  of  the  only 
means  from  which  it  can  be  obtained,  namely,  labor.  Thus  a  great 
man  is  simply  a  man  that  does  his  duty  and  makes  the  most  of  his 
advantages.  And  Greatness,  so  called,  is  founded  on  common  sense 
cemented  with  character  (remainder  lost). 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  39 

A  MONKEY'S  ACCOUNT  OF  CIVILIZATION 

Dear  brother  of  the  primeval  forest,  with  what  emotions  do  I 
again  behold  your  festive  countenances!  I  bring  you  glad  tidings 
from  my  observations  upon  what  is  called  civilization  by  the  peculiar 
creatures  among  whom  I  have  been  living.  Those  creatures  are  very 
powerful  and  cunning:  and  as  you  all  have  considerable  talent  in  the 
latter  direction,  I  want  to  increase  your  natural  abilities  by  a  few 
hints  that  I  have  received  from  them. 

In  the  first  place  you  are  too  silly  and  incautious,  lacking  the  power 
of  concealing  what  you  have  in  mind.  My  successful  Christian 
friends  are  much  wiser  than  you  in  this  respect.  To  be  sure,  a  few 
thousand  years  ago,  if  a  man  wanted  to  kill  another,  he  generally  did 
it  without  much  dissimulation;  but  now  the  thing  called  civilization 
is  doing  much  to  soften  that  uncomfortable  method. 

There  is  just  starting  up  among  them  a  glorious  theory,  known  as 
the  "Perfectibility  of  Species,"  upon  which  I  shall  hereafter  enlarge. 
And  that  principle  of  our  common  nature  that  I  observe  in  you,  when 
you  growl  and  bite  each  others'  tails,  in  our  civilized  friends  assumes 
a  different  form. 

That  ugly  element  that  disturbs  us  so  unpleasantly  down  here, 
becomes  purified  and  refined  as  it  passes  through  different  stages  of 
animal  life,  until  in  man  it  exists  in  those  intricate  ways  known  as 
Pretense  and  Purpose.  A  principle  of  action  may  be  expressed  in  a 
few  words,  and  so,  to  prove  what  I  have  been  saying,  I  subjoin  a  few 
of  those  that  I  have  copied  from  the  books  of  their  sages: 

"Do  unto  others  as  you  would  be  done  by." 

"Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 

"Do  good  to  those  that  hate  you." 

"Bless  those  that  curse  you." 

"Seek  justice  equally  amidst  the  gifts  of  the  rich,  and  the  sighs 
and  entreaties  of  the  poor." 

"Do  good  by  stealth  and  blush  to  find  it  fame!" 

Those  are  very  liberal,  and  nobody  can  take  offense  at  them.  But 
also  some  one  has  incautiously  said:  "To  judge  every  man  according 
to  his  work,"  and  so  judging  from  the  actions  of  men,  I  have  concluded 
that  the  following  precepts,  that  I  have  prepared  for  your  benefit, 
must  be  the  ones  that  they  really  follow: 

Suspect  every  man. 

Hate  all  men. 

Consider  thyself  before  all  others. 

Do  evil  that  good  may  come  of  it. 

Injure  thy  brother  for  six  days  that  he  may  need  thy  prayers  on  the 
seventh. 

Let  not  thy  cruel  act  be  discovered,  for  in  that  consists  the  crime. 


40  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Do  thou  those  things,  for  all  others  do  likewise. 

The  combination  of  those  two  systems,  namely,  an  outward 
pretense  and  an  inward  purpose,  does  away  with  a  great  deal  of  use- 
less exertion,  besides  avoiding  an  appearance  of  vulgarity,  although 
it  is  harshly  termed  hypocrisy  by  some  fanatics.  But  what's  in  a 
name?  Again,  the  idea  is  advancement;  though,  to  tell  the  truth, 
I  don't  know  but  that  you  are  as  happy  now  as  if  you  wore  pantaloons. 

Beloved  brethren,  you  have  often  noticed  the  gazelle  lift  up  its 
head  and  snort  at  the  sky,  before  bounding  over  the  plains :  thus  does 
man  lift  up  his  head,  clasp  his  hands  and  groan  at  something  up  in  the 
sky. 

He  raves  of  Honor,  Justice  and  other  imaginary  things.  But 
look  you,  'tis  Power  he  worships.  Two  or  three  of  his  associates  are 
affected  by  a  man  of  little  power;  but  all  human  creatures  bow  to  a 
few  kings,  emperors  and  presidents.  So  it  is  with  us:  a  butterfly  is 
noticed  but  little;  a  mosquito  more  because  of  its  sting.  And  the 
tiger  rules  the  forests,  because  of  its  jaws  and  paws. 

When  you  enter  a  garden,  each  one  of  you  tries  to  appropriate  the 
greatest  amount  of  vegetable  matter  for  himself.  But  in  selfish 
propensities  man  far  exceeds  you.  Their  existence  is  a  continuous 
turmoil  of  struggling  and  battling.  They  are  all  tyrants,  tyrants  small 
and  great,  trampling,  scorning  those  beneath  them,  fighting  fiercely 
those  around  them,  and  exhorting  and  cursing  those  above  them. 

Now  mind,  brothers,  that  although  men  get  very  proud  sometimes, 
and  talk  much  of  things  without  substance,  I  notice  that  for  the  most 
part,  they  partake  of  food  pretty  regularly;  if  they  are  hurt,  they 
feel  it;  if  they  are  cut  they  bleed  as  we  do;  and  their  young  men 
have  what  they  call  mustaches  on  the  upper  lip  as  we  do  all  over  the 
body. 

When  we  want  to  express  our  feelings,  you  know  that  we  are  quite 
forcible;  but  they  express  in  what  seems  an  intelligible  way  to  them 
and  with  greater  ease.  They  open  and  shut  their  mouths;  sometimes 
twist  their  tongues,  and  sometimes  shake  their  forepaws,  or  rather 
fists.  And  occasionally  they  scream  in  unison,  as  we  have  heard  the 
jackals,  and  hyenas  chorus  at  midnight. 

They  talk  a  great  deal  about  their  reason  and  thinking  powers; 
but  those  results  they  arrive  at  only  by  experience.  They  have  to  go 
to  Asia  to  describe  it;  they  have  to  taste  cider  to  know  how  it  tastes. 
Some  of  them,  it  is  true,  write  of  things  they  have  neither  seen  nor 
heard.  Formerly  those  were  called  fools;  but  civilization  calls  them 
philosophers. 

Doubtless  you  have  often  seen  a  lion's  cave  surrounded  with  the 
bones  of  its  prey.  Man's  dwelling  is  somewhat  different;  and  he  is 
wise  enough  to  remove  the  remains  of  his  victims,  to  avoid  hurting 
anyone's  feelings  and  to  keep  up  appearances. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  41 

If  he  is  a  great  conquerer,  he  leaves  the  slain  to  rot  on  the  battle- 
field, if  he  is  a  millionaire,  he  lion-like  crushes  his  victims  with  the 
jaws  of  foreclosing  mortgages;  if  he  is  a  common  man,  he  quietly 
poisons  his  neighbors  with  his  tongue  barbed  with  slander. 

There  are  many  other  points  of  similarity  between  you  and  the 
human  race:  that  is  all  very  good  for  it  tends  to  bring  you  up  to  be 
justly  considered.  But  they  carry  the  analysis  too  far  down  to  bring 
credit  to  you;  for  they  talk  of  mixing  sand  under  chemical  laws,  and 
by  exposing  it  to  certain  degrees  of  heat  and  light,  etc.,  they  can 
produce  all  kinds  of  animals  from  it. 

Now,  of  course,  this  is  a  grand  principle;  but  they  ought  not  abuse 
it.  But  at  any  rate  you  are  being  recognized;  your  rights  are  being 
vindicated.  Your  good  day  has  come.  Thus  scamper  ye,  joyfully 
through  the  verdant  forests;  chatter  ye  among  the  leafy  branches, 
and  hang  by  the  tails  to  the  long,  strong  boughs. 

MORAL 
That's  what  the  monkey  thought. 

QUESTION 

How  far  was  the  monkey  wrong?  I  pray  you  ponder  those  argu- 
ments, well,  for  in  them  are  embodied  most  of  the  doubts  of  modern 
infidelity. 

A  FEW  THOUGHTS  ON  GOVERNMENT  AND  ITS  FORMS 

From  the  instincts  of  its  nature,  the  human  family  is  gregarious. 

In  the  result  of  this  instinct,  namely  the  collection  of  men,  the 
necessity  of  government  in  some  form  must  have  been  apparent. 
But  how  the  first  form  of  government,  the  patriarchal,  originated, 
whether  through  a  sense  of  filial  duty,  personal  fear,  or  through  love 
of  order,  and  discipline,  it  probably  would  be  difficult  to  determine. 
But  certain  it  is  that  it  was  soon  affected  by  personal  ambition,  love 
of  glory,  and  by  that  element  of  man's  nature  that  urges  him  to  be 
superior  to  his  neighbor. 

Now,  as  a  starting  point,  it  must  be  obvious  that  the  foundation, 
as  well  as  the  aim  and  end  of  all  government  must  be  in  the  people 
and  for  the  people.  Kings  do  not  reign  in  forests,  with  trees  for 
courtiers;  nor  emperors,  in  desert  realms. 

The  people,  no  matter  how  much  they  are  ignored  or  despised, 
constitute  the  whole  life  and  power  of  it  all.  Governors,  Kings  and 
emperors  are  but  straws  on  the  ocean  of  political  life.  Rulers  must 
accommodate  themselves  to  the  conditions  of  the  ruled,  whose  off- 
spring they  are. 

Then,  every  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.     Thus,  from  principles,  it 


42  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

appears  to  me  that,  within  an  approximate  degree,  the  government  of 
every  nation  is  exactly  adapted  to  it. 

Alexander  and  Sesostris  fought  with  warlike  races;  and  were 
tyrannical  when  tyranny  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Sardanapalus 
was  licentious  among  a  licentious  people,  in  a  licentious  age.  The 
people  were  as  base  as  the  government  itself.  For  were  it  otherwise, 
how  could  the  strength  of  one  avail  against  the  force  of  millions  or 
drive  them  to  that  at  which  their  hearts  revolted  in  union?  No, 
all  these  things  are  true  for  the  same  reason  that  we  can  ignite  com- 
bustibles. Those  chance  figures  that  appear  to  us  in  history  are  but 
the  fire-brands;  and  failures  are  caused  by  attempting  to  burn  water. 

Let  a  king  be  firmly  seated  on  his  throne,  sustained  in  his  position 
by  a  long  line  of  predecessors  and  by  an  army  well  chosen  and  wisely 
directed,  and  his  encroachments  upon  his  subjects  are  tolerated  only 
because  they  think,  and  that  thinking  has  become  a  part  of  their 
existence,  that  it  is  right,  and  they  yield  to  it  as  to  the  voice  of  destiny; 
until  perchance  some  indignant  spirit  terminates  the  monarch's 
infamous  career  by  the  assassin's  knife. 

Again,  let  some  appreciable  portion  of  the  human  race,  for  instance 
America,  become  expanded  as  to  their  intellects  in  some  movement  of 
reform  or  improvement  and  the  sleeping  senses  of  the  world  will 
become  slowly  aroused  from  their  lethargy;  their  energies  will  slowly 
gather  and  concentrate,  and,  like  the  volcanic  fires  in  the  earth,  they 
must  eventually  burst  their  barriers.  Hence,  Macaulay  says: 
"  It  is  a  principle  never  to  be  forgotten,  that  it  is  not  by  absolute  but 
by  relative  misgovernment  that  nations  are  roused  to  madness." 

The  growth  of  the  people's  sentiments  and  opinions  is  slow  but  it  is 
as  resistless  as  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  On  this  point,  therefore,  I 
conclude  with  a  French  author,  that  forms  of  government  are  like 
forms  of  shoe-soles,  they  should  be  made  to  fit  the  feet  that  wear 
them.  There  are  some  seeming  exceptions,  but  I  think  they  can  be 
explained  on  the  same  principle. 

As  when  small  states  or  small  divisions  of  the  body  politic,  which 
cannot  greatly  vary  or  effect  the  world  at  large,  which  fact  must  be 
the  cause  of  the  consequence,  become  exposed  to  the  full  fury  and 
in-born  malignity  of  conquering  nations  and  superior  powers.  Bear 
witness  struggling  Poland  and  seditious  Ireland. 

During  the  first  four  thousand  years  of  man's  existence,  brute 
strength  and  the  force  of  the  sword  were  the  sole  supporters  of  all 
government  and  dominion.  All  the  people  of  the  world  were  divided 
into  conquerors  and  slaves.  But  at  the  end  of  that  period,  a  revolu- 
tion occurred  that  undermined  the  thrones  of  kings  and  must  finally 
destroy  them. 

That  revolution  was  Christianity.  It  casts  to  the  winds  the 
"divine  rights  of  kings";  it  teaches  the  insignificance  of  the  greatest 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  43 

of  earthly  powers,  and  the  divine  rights  of  all  men.  It  turns  the  rod 
of  oppression  from  the  peasant  back,  as  well  as  frees  his  mind  from  the 
shackles  of  superstition. 

A  fact  of  fearful  import  to  those  that  would  secularize  the  affairs  of 
state.  In  short,  its  tendency  is  to  change  the  entire  nature  of  govern- 
ment as  it  has  formerly  existed;  and  the  works,  improvements  and 
inventions  of  genius  and  industry  strengthen  and  support  it.  "And 
thereby  hangs  a  tale." 

It  shows  that  the  mass  of  men  need  some  outward  force,  some  power- 
ful, active  stimulant  to  raise  them  to  that  scale  of  existence  that  is 
worthy  of  men.  I  know  of  nothing,  in  the  history  of  events  that 
warrants  any  other  conclusion. 

I  do  not  believe  in  monarchies,  because  I  do  not  like  to  see  the 
rights  of  the  many  usurped  by  the  few;  the  few  in  opulence,  the 
many  groaning  in  misery  and  want.  I  do  not  like  to  see  one  worthless, 
talentless  man — in  the  language  of  Napoleon,  a  "hereditary  donkey  "- 
glutting  himself  upon  the  fruit  of  the  toil  of  millions;  sucking  the 
heart's  blood  from  the  wasted  skeleton  of  man's  divinity,  vulture- 
like  preying  upon  the  corpse  of  the  public  prosperity,  rearing  his 
dominion  upon  desolation  and  the  destruction  of  all  virtue,  goodness, 
holiness  and  happiness. 

How  can  a  frail  human  creature  stand  up  in  the  presence  of  his 
Maker  and  claim  the  right  to  deprive  his  fellow-creatures  of  their 
birth-rights,  of  the  privilege  of  enjoying  the  happiness  of  this  world, 
of  what  the  heavens  beam  upon  and  of  exercising  his  faculties  upon 
them?  It  is  wrong,  darkly,  hideously  wrong.  All  monarchies  are 
not  as  bad  as  this,  for  the  reason  that  they  dare  not  be;  but  all 
experience  demonstrates  that  it  is  the  innate  tendency  and  natural 
direction  of  all  monarchial  institutions. 

Pure  democracy  is  better.  For  the  people  are  to  a  certain  degree 
their  own  possession;  and  if  they  are  to  be  destroyed,  it  is  more 
fitting  that  they  should  be  their  own  executioners.  Yet,  it  is  not 
right.  The  excesses  of  the  people  are  much  more  to  be  feared  than 
those  of  sovereigns,  from  the  reason  of  their  predominance  of  power. 

All  men  must  agree  that  the  aim  of  government  should  be  for  justice 
and  for  right.  The  vilest  monarch  that  ever  wielded  scepter  exhibited 
some  discipline  and  pretended  some  justice;  but,  the  nature  of  the 
case  and  the  manner  the  people  have  ever  conducted  themselves  show 
the  futility  of  intrusting  in  their  hands  for  inviolability,  truth,  justice 
or  right.  In  order  to  practice  these  virtues,  the  faculties  of  their 
being  must  be  educated,  morally  and  intellectually,  to  an  appreciation 
of  them.  And  this  is  the  grandest  field  of  labor  in  which  genius  can 
exert  itself,  and  accordingly  in  every  country  its  martyrs  and  patriots 
are  venerated  while  a  trace  of  manhood  or  human  gratitude  remains. 

It  was  formerly  urged  against  democracy  that  it  tended  towards 


44  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

ochlocracy  or  government  by  the  rabble.  But  America,  which 
approaches  the  nearest  of  any  nation  to  a  democratical  form  of  govern- 
ment, shows  that  its  tendency  is  in  two  opposite  directions:  towards 
timocracy  or  government  by  the  rich,  as  shown  in  the  increasing 
wealth  and  consequent  power  of  many  citizens;  and  towards  ochlo- 
cracy or  rabble  government,  as  exhibited  in  the  deepening  poverty  of 
the  poor,  and  its  occasional  demonstration  in  riots  and  the  like. 

But  a  thorough  democracy,  a  thorough  personal  government  is  an 
absurd,  unnatural  impossibility.  All  men  cannot  be  put  on  the  same 
footing  in  respect  to  talents  and  ability,  any  more  than  they  can  be 
equalized  in  respect  to  physical  strength. 

In  every  family  and  in  every  gathering  and  convention  of  people, 
whether  on  the  streets  or  in  the  halls  of  the  senate,  some  few  are 
always  found  that  surpass  all  the  rest.  That  infidel  sentiment  of 
Macchiavelli  that  every  man  has  all  the  right  he  can  assert,  when 
applied  in  the  broader  light  of  Christianity  contains  much  truth. 

I  have  told  of  those  forms  in  which  I  do  not  believe  and  I  will  now 
speak  of  that  in  which  I  have  faith.  Far  away,  in  the  dim  light  of 
the  future,  my  imagination  can  picture  a  land  smiling  with  fertility 
and  abundance,  where  dwell  an  honest,  industrious,  intelligent, 
religious  people.  Let  me  imagine  this  happy  race,  in  the  fulfillment 
of  the  conditions  of  their  nature,  with  their  energies  wrought  up  to 
the  highest  tension  of  exertion,  governed  by  those  who  in  all  respects 
have  proved  themselves  to  be  the  strongest,  ablest,  most  enduring  in 
the  contest. 

But,  as  no  one  is  wise  at  all  times,  and  as  human  nature  is  liable  to 
depravity,  and,  lest  they  infringe  upon  the  prerogatives  of  the  people, 
or  lest  the  people  seduce  them  from  the  exercise  of  the  strictest 
principles  of  right,  or  lest  they  themselves  err  in  judgment  or  policy, 
let  the  "ship  of  state"  be  anchored  upon  a  constitution,  framed  from 
the  acme  of  human  wisdom. 

Thus,  I  believe  in  an  aristocratic  republic,  not  in  the  meaning  of 
"Aristocracy"  as  generally  understood,  but,  according  to  its  deriva- 
tive sense,  i.  e.,  a  government  by  the  best.  But  this  is  indeed  Utopian, 
ol  T07TO5,  a  place  that  is  not.  And  with  the  people  that  now  exist  it 
is  certainly  best  as  it  is. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  tendency  of  the  world  is  in  this  direction, 
and  should  it  ever  be  attained  it  will  be  by  natural,  healthy  growth 
not  by  revolutions  or  sudden  changes. 

THOUGHTS  AND  INSPIRATIONS  OCCASIONED  BY  MUSIC 

The  senses  of  touch  and  taste  are  sources  of  corruption  and  debase- 
ment. They  fill  us  with  a  knowledge  of  our  weakness.  Even  the 
sense  of  sight,  though  it  be  the  master  sense,  connects  us  with  things 
material  and  gross. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  45 

But  the  sense  of  hearing,  at  its  perfection,  which  I  take  is  in  the 
reception  of  music,  makes  us  forget  for  the  time  our  mortality  and 
though  it  recalls  sorrow  and  adversity,  it  refines  our  whole  existence. 

Hence  it  seems  to  me  that  crime  is  foreign  to  the  character  of  natural 
musicians;  and  when  I  see  one  fallen,  I  immediately  think  that  his 
nature,  which  is  doubly  strong,  has  been  exerted  in  a  wrong  direc- 
tion, so  that  the  fall  is  doubly  great. 

Man  is  subject  to  ever  varying  moods,  moods  changing  as  often  as 
the  aspect  of  nature  around  him;  to-day  he  is  silent  and  restless, 
to-morrow,  loquacious  and  vigorous;  now,  slow  and  thoughtful, 
anon  active  and  resolute. 

Music  seems  to  be  almost  perfect  master  of  these  moods,  tuning 
man  at  its  pleasure;  mingling,  as  it  does,  past,  present  and  future 
into  one  grand  harmony.  Now  it  rushes  over  him  in  torrents  of 
sadness,  overwhelming  his  mind  in  gloom,  moving  before  his  mind's 
eye  sad,  sorrowful  pictures  and  it  chokes  him  with  grief  and  anguish. 

But  now  it  thrills  him  with  delight;  his  soul  is  bathed  in  rapture;  sun- 
shine dances  before  his  vision;  his  heart  bounds  joyfully;  the  music  per- 
meates every  pore  of  his  being,  trembles  on  his  very  finger  tips  in  floods 
of  bliss.  Now  it  bursts  forth  in  swelling  thunders  of  indignation; 
his  heart  leaps  in  anger;  his  nerves  are  strung  for  vengeance;  scorn  is 
on  his  lip,  and  lightnings  flash  from  his  eyes.  What  characteristic  is 
there,  worthy  of  human  beings,  that  has  not  been  ennobled  and  puri- 
fied by  the  influence  of  music?  Ask  patriotism.  It  will  answer: 

In  the  songs  of  a  nation  is  seen  the  people's  love  for  their  country. 
In  these  the  mountain  streams,  the  hills  and  vales  of  his  native  land 
are  endeared  and  perpetuated  to  him.  In  them  he  recalls  the  pleas- 
ures, follies  and  sorrows  of  youth.  Even  in  foreign  lands  his  eye 
will  gleam,  as  the  old  familiar  song  recalls  his  early  manhood.  They 
were  thoughts  like  these  that  stole  over  Richard  the  Lion-hearted 
in  the  Austrian  stronghold,  as  the  strains  of  his  favorite  minstrel 
broke  upon  his  ear. 

In  peace,  the  musician  keeps  the  spirit  of  Liberty  alive,  perhaps, 
better  than  even  the  orator.  And  in  time  of  danger,  patriots  are 
roused  to  action  by  the  sound  of  music;  it  urges  them  to  clutch  the 
musket;  it  nerves  them  in  the  heat  of  battle,  and  hurls  them  in 
power  upon  the  enemy. 

When  the  war  is  finished,  they  march  back  in  triumph,  to  the  sound 
of  martial  music;  and  their  heroic  deeds,  celebrated  in  song,  cause 
others  to  follow  in  their  footsteps,  and  emulate  their  glory.  By  most 
nations — even  the  most  savage — music  is  used  in  the  religious 
ceremonies. 

The  disciples  of  religion  are  inspired  with  a  greater  zeal  in  their 
cause  by  the  power  of  music.  It  soothes  their  afflictions  and  adversi- 
ties, lifts  them  high  above  the  powers  of  darkness.  They  pour  forth 


46  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

glad  songs  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  and  in  their  glowing  imagina- 
tions they  see  the  choral  angels  circling  the  throne  with  their  rapturous 
hosannas.  Even  the  slowly  plodding  scientist  confesses  the  power  of 
music. 

It  collects  his  dozing  faculties,  quickens  his  slow  wits,  and  raises 
his  thoughts,  wave  upon  wave,  as  it  comes  to  his  ear,  and  bearing 
him  aloft  to  the  vertex  of  inspiration,  it  pours  light  in  upon  his 
bewildered  brain. 

O  music,  food  of  love,  language  of  the  soul,  I  will  close  your  praise 
with  the  words  of  Shakespeare:  "Therefore  the  poet  did  feign  that 
Orpheus  drew  trees,  stones,  and  floods;  since  naught  so  stockish, 
hard  and  full  of  race,  but  music  for  the  time  doth  change  his  nature, 
the  man  that  hath  no  music  in  himself,  nor  is  not  moved  with  concord 
of  sweet  sounds,  is  fit  for  treasons,  stratagems  and  spoils,  the  motions 
of  his  spirit  are  chill  as  night,  and  his  affections  dark  as  Erebus;  let 
no  such  man  be  trusted." 


WHERE  DID  WASHINGTON  EXHIBIT  THE 
GREATEST  GENERALSHIP? 

God  made  every  man  for  some  distinct  purpose:  and  as  we  look 
back  through  history,  over  the  pinnacles  of  human  events,  we  see 
that  where  great  men  have  been  needed  they  have  been  supplied; 
just  as  we  see  ordinary  beings  supplied  for  ordinary  purposes,  in 
every  day  life. 

When  the  Persian  hordes  swept  down  upon  the  Grecian  republic, 
Greece  had  her  Alexander,  Miltiades  and  Themistocles;  Rome,  her 
Caesar  to  mold  the  barbarians  into  her  civilization;  France  had  her 
Napoleon  to  smash  the  ancient  monarchies  of  modern  Europe,  and  it 
was  right  that  on  the  virgin  soil  of  America,  Liberty  should  have  such 
a  noble  architect  as  George  Washington  to  build  her  shrine. 

I  am  asked,  "Where  did  he  exhibit  the  greatest  generalship?" 
Shall  I  search  his  records  and  tell  in  what  particular  instance  the 
greatest  foresight,  prudence  or  courage  was  exhibited?  Not  so. 
I  shall  tell  of  the  generalship  that  necessitated  these  results,  go  back 
to  the  prime  cause  of  all  his  fortunes,  and  answer  without  hesitation, 
"In  the  command  of  his  spirits." 

For  truly  the  Scriptures  say,  "He  that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  greater 
than  he  that  taketh  the  city";  and  though  Washington  did  both, 
the  latter  was  the  result  of  the  former.  Washington  was  a  man  of 
ordinary  genius,  and  had  he  been  supported  by  his  original  gifts 
alone,  his  name  would  never  have  reached  the  page  of  history. 

But  it  was  not  a  genius  that  Liberty  required  for  her  champion. 
And  how  beautiful,  when  contrasted  with  the  bloody,  selfish,  sensual 
laurels  of  ancient  and  modern  leaders,  is  the  truth,  justice,  upright- 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  47 

ness,  perseverance  and  patriotism  of  Washington.  He  was  a  man 
in  whom  every  mean  desire,  every  base  fear,  every  low  thought  and 
every  cowardly  avarice,  was  instantly  crushed  and  banished;  he  was 
a  man  in  whom  the  spiritual  life  was  pre-eminently  superior  to  the 
sensual;  he  was  a  man  of  a  firm,  true  heart,  and  a  sound  head. 

As  an  instance  of  his  well-known  purity  of  character,  it  might 
be  mentioned  that  flour,  bearing  his  brand  passed  without  inspection 
in  the  East  Indies — a  human  being  whose  honesty  extended  from  one 
side  of  the  globe  to  the  other ! 

When  we  thus  contemplate  his  sterling  character;  the  matchless 
organization  of  his  whole  being,  how  can  we  wonder  at  his  accomplish- 
ments of  after  years?  How  can  we  wonder  at  him,  yet  a  young  man 
braving  the  dangers  of  Indian  warfare  with  matchless  courage. 

Now  thrusting  the  glove  of  defiance  in  the  face  of  tyrannical 
England,  though  his  half-starved  countrymen  were  dying  on  the 
frozen  hills  of  the  new  world;  now  outwitting  his  enemies  within  the 
fortifications  of  Boston;  now  crossing  the  dark  and  ice  blocked 
Delaware;  now  hurling  down  the  dejected  Britishers  on  the  plains 
of  Yorktown;  now  in  the  presidential  chair,  laying  the  foundation 
of  the  national  prosperity,  by  his  farseeing  policy.  Oh!  What  a 
difference  between  this  man  (The  remainder  lost.  Judging  by  the 
writing  he  was  probably  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  wrote  it.  He 
may  have  been  younger.) 

ADVICE  TO  A  YOUNG  AMERICAN 

My  dear  boy,  on  account  of  my  vast  superiority  over  you  in  point 
of  age  and  experience,  I  feel  it  incumbent  upon  me  to  give  you  a  few 
words  of  advice.  In  order  that  you  may  the  better  appreciate  what 
follows,  I  will  commence  by  telling  you  that  you  are  your  own  best 
counselor;  and  my  advice  to  you  is  like  seed  placed  in  the  earth,  if 
the  soil  is  good  the  seed  will  grow,  if  barren,  it  will  die. 

The  experience  that  you  have  already  acquired  may  teach  you, 
as  mine  has  long  since  taught  me,  the  necessity  of  developing  a  good 
system  of  philosophy.  For,  indeed,  every  person  above  the  order 
of  brutes  must  be  a  philosopher,  to  some  degree. 

Philosophy  is  but  the  arrangement  or  classification  of  ideas — or 
more  exactly,  it  is  the  science  of  principles  in  their  relation  to  things. 
All  your  actions,  your  disposition,  and,  perhaps,  even  your  happiness 
is  governed  by  a  system  of  philosophy  in  a  certain  degree  of  perfection. 

The  snarling,  whining  man,  the  jolly  man,  the  active  man,  the 
lazy  man,  the  benevolent  man,  the  spiteful  man,  the  charitable  man, 
the  miser,  the  robber  and  the  sneak  thief,  are  all  governed  by  their 
respective  systems  of  philosophy  in  various  stages  of  perfection. 

Now  you  must  open  your  eyes  and  in  selecting  one  for  yourself, 


48  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the  beauty  of  it  all  consists  in  this,  that  you  can  take  the  seed  and 
tell  the  tree  by  means  of  innumerable  examples.  You  may  judge 
if  such  a  person  is  a  miniature  Plato,  a  little  Socrates,  an  Aristotelian, 
an  Epicurean,  a  Cynic  or  a  stoic.  You  can  tell  if  such  and  such 
principles  are  perseveringly  executed,  in  what  they  will  finally  result. 
And  in  applying  this  knowledge  to  yourself  you  must  not  be  con- 
tented with  "avoiding  extremes,"  but  you  must  know  where  your 
journey  would  end  ere  undertaking  it. 

Be  cautious  in  your  use  of  wise  maxims,  for  maxims  are  wise  only 
when  applied  with  wisdom.  A  little  boy  having  heard  that  a  penny 
saved  will  make  another,  laid  one  away  in  a  box,  going  regularly 
every  day  to  behold  its  increase,  but  he  at  length,  gave  it  up  in 
disgust,  and  invested  in  candy. 

Cultivate  and  strengthen  your  moral  power;  and,  of  course,  you 
must  practise  some  form  of  divine  worship.  For  religion  constitutes 
all  the  coloring  of  life's  picture,  and  right  here  in  your  youth  determine 
whether  your  mind  will  be  engaged  with  things  base  and  material 
or  with  things  intellectual  and  spiritual.  Then,  whether  you  be  Cath- 
olic or  Protestant,  it  is  expected  that  you  will  be  bigoted.  Your 
fathers  and  grandfathers  have  believed  as  you  believe;  and,  further- 
more, if  a  person  attacks  your  opinions  he  attacks  you,  or,  at  least, 
that  is  the  way  it  is  generally  regarded. 

And,  perhaps,  it  is  right  and  necessary  that  you  should  be  kept 
within  Christian  limits  even  by  tm-christian  means.  A  whirlpool 
may  prevent  a  vessel  from  drifting  out  to  sea.  Although  it  might  be 
questioned  whether  it  is  more  judicious  for  an  Indian  to  bring  a  tiger 
into  his  hut  to  prevent  his  boy  from  going  out  to  be  devoured  by  one. 

But,  after  all,  your  father's  religion  is  good  enough  for  you,  at  least 
till  you  are  able  to  form  a  sound  opinion  upon  it  yourself;  and 
remember  that  the  most  contemptible  fellow  out  of  prison  is  the  one 
that  would  abandon  his  creed  for  ambitious  or  pecuniary  interests; 
then,  again,  that  all  denominations  pretend  to  be  Christian,  but 
while  you  continue  to  quarrel  you  might  as  well  be  a  Turk. 

Now,  as  a  young  pioneer  in  this  western  world  you  ought,  of 
course,  intend  to  make  the  most  of  yourself.  Young  sir,  you  ought 
to  be  making  plans  for  the  future  which  will  gradually  converge  into 
the  grand  aim  of  your  life.  Do  not  waste  your  time  in  wandering 
aimlessly  around,  for  if  you  do  you  will  arrive  nowhere,  unless  it  be 
in  Tramping-ton. 

"All  roads  may  lead  to  Rome,"  but,  nowadays,  you'll  find  that 
you  must  take  the  shortest  to  arrive  there  in  season.  And  when  you 
have  determined  upon  it,  impress  it  upon  your  mind,  chisel  it  in  your 
very  soul,  bend  all  your  energies  to  attain  it,  and  you  doubtless  will. 

Out  of  duty  to  yourself  and  to  your  country,  form  your  ideas  and 
beliefs  as  slowly,  but  as  firmly,  as  the  nature  of  your  mind  will  permit; 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  49 

and  then  act  upon  your  ideas.  It  was  Gladstone,  I  think,  that  said, 
"I  know  but  little  more  than  when  I  was  twenty  years  old,  only  I 
know  how  to  apply  it  better."  Little  principles  that  we  have, 
probably,  let  in  and  out  our  ears  a  dozen  times  have  made  the  greatest 
men  that  have  ever  lived. 

Be  not  discouraged  with  little  things.  It  is  now  fifteen  or  sixteen 
years  since  you  grew  out  of  babyhood,  and  I  hope  that  you  have  left 
all  its  customs  behind.  Use  your  judgment  in  everything.  Be 
neither  too  particular,  nor  too  wasteful;  abstain  from  engaging  your 
mind  with  little  things,  lest  you  narrow  your  mind  to  the  limits  of 
your  contemplation. 

Words  are  the  medium  of  the  exchange  of  ideas,  and  I  caution  you 
to  be  much  more  sparing  in  the  use  of  them,  than  in  that  of  the 
medium  of  value  exchange.  Apportion  to  each  word  its  proper 
value  and  esteem  it  for  its  true  worth.  Balance  it  carefully  with 
the  idea  to  be  expressed  before  you  use  it. 

A  man  of  bad  judgment  will  put  as  much  fury  into  a  malediction 
upon  a  mosquito  as  a  true  orator  would  in  hurling  anathemas  upon 
the  enemies  of  his  country.  Now  let  me  whisper  a  word  to  you  about 
the  ladies  but  tell  no  one  what  I  say. 

There  are  two  great  evils  that  beset  the  path  of  early  manhood: 
the  one  is  laziness,  the  other  is  woman  in  the  shape  of  pretty  girls. 
Don't  forget  this,  Johnnie,  for  'tis  true.  For  your  friends  choose 
only  those  in  whose  presence  you  feel  some  restraint, 

(A  page  is  lost.) 

In  establishing  your  rule  of  action,  remember  that  every  thought, 
that  every  word,  that  every  motion,  that  you  make,  will  stand  as 
living  precedents  which  you  will  ever  unconsciously  refer  to  in  all 
your  actions  hereafter. 

Seize  every  possible  opportunity  to  enjoy  a  good  laugh.  Let  it 
flow  and  bubble  through  you,  softening  the  dried  and  hardened 
portions  of  your  soul,  wearing  off  the  sharp  edges  of  hatred  and 
oiling  them,  gladdening  your  heart,  brightening  your  intellect, 
fattening  you,  and  making  you  better  all  over. 

A  capacity  for  laughter  makes  Christianity  possible.  I  can  make 
no  better  ending  than  with  the  words  of  the  good  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
on  his  deathbed,  to  Lockhart:  "My  dear,  be  a  good  man:  be  virtuous, 
be  religious;  be  a  good  man.  Nothing  else  will  give  you  any  comfort 
when  you  lie  here." 


50  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

GOLD  OR  GREENBACKS 

(The  reader  should  remember  that  this  is  by  a  boy  in  his  mid-teens  and  written  long 
before  the  profuse  education  in  monetary  matters,  centering  around  the  "16  to  1" 
controversy.) 

America  is  now  at  a  crisis  in  which  is  involved  the  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  and  therefore  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 
It  is  now  at  a  point  in  its  history  which  is  to  determine  whether  it  shall 
have  money  which  has  proved  its  honesty  in  all  ages  and  in  every 
country  in  which  it  has  been  used;  or  a  currency  which  has  disgraced 
itself  in  every  country  in  which  it  has  shown  its  face. 

In  short  whether  it  shall  have  gold  or  greenbacks.  Let  the 
nation  consider  the  qualifications  and  advantages  of  each,  and 
choose  the  one  that  can  prove  itself  most  beneficial.  Money  is  the 
measure  of  value;  and  to  measure  value  it  must  have  value  itself. 

For  without  value  it  could  measure  nothing,  any  more  than  a  pinch 
of  snuff  could  measure  a  barrel  of  wine.  Its  value  must  be  steady;  as, 
unless  it  is  steady,  it  would  be  no  more  convenient  than  a  yardstick 
that  would  one  day  be  20  inches,  another  day  26  inches,  and  another, 
15  inches  long. 

We  learn  that  long  before  gold  had  been  used  as  money,  it  had 
been  used  for  various  purposes,  but  chiefly  for  ornament.  The 
architect  adorned  his  temples  with  it;  the  priest  consecrated  it  to 
his  gods;  the  king  was  crowned  with  gold;  the  queen  flashed  in 
golden  jewels,  and  even  the  savage  was  fascinated  with  the  luster  of 
silver  and  gold. 

There  having  been  a  demand  for  it,  it  was  therefore  produced; 
and  as  the  world  advanced,  new  gold  mines  seem  to  have  instinctively 
opened  up,  to  meet  the  increased  demand;  and  ranging  back  through 
history  we  find  the  amount  of  gold  bearing  nearly  the  same  propor- 
tion to  the  demand  as  it  does  to-day.  The  only  change  of  any 
extent  that  ever  occurred  was  after  the  discovery  of  the  mines  in 
South  America  and  Mexico.  The  proportionate  cost  of  its  production 
has  always  been  nearly  the  same. 

Consequently,  as  the  cost  of  production,  supply  and  demand  have 
always  borne  nearly  the  same  relative  proportion,  the  value  of  gold 
has  always  been  nearly  the  same.  It  is  the  yardstick  of  value 
which  is  always  36  inches  long. 

Now  what  is  the  value  of  the  greenback  ?  Whence  does  it  get  its  value  ? 
It  does  not  get  its  value  from  the  cost  of  production,  for  it  pretends 
to  be  a  dollar,  and  costs  but  about  a  mill  to  be  produced.  Then 
from  what  does  it  get  its  value? 

The  greenbacker  will  tell  you:  "It  is  a  dollar  by  the  power  and 
responsibility  of  the  United  States  of  America,  it  is  a  dollar  by  the 
rights  of  the  people."  Now  nearly  all  the  paper  money  that  has 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  51 

ever  been  issued,  has  been  based  on  something  that  had  value  and 
its  own  value  has  always  depended  on  the  soundness  of  the  promise 
of  redemption,  and  the  value  of  the  thing  upon  which  it  was  based. 

For  instance  our  government  issued  greenbacks  in  1863  promising 
to  redeem  them  at  some  future  date;  but  as  that  promise  dwindled 
down  in  the  uncertainty  of  war  times,  the  value  of  the  greenback 
diminished  to  35  cents  each.  Then  as  the  promise  of  their  redemption 
became  stronger  they  increased  in  value,  till  the  government  promised 
to  redeem  them  in  January,  1879,  when  they  sprang  up  to  within 
one  fourth  of  a  cent  of  their  face  value. 

It  is  obvious  that  when  the  government  requires  the  greenback 
to  be  changed  into  gold  at  short,  regular  intervals,  as  is  the  case  in 
England,  that  one  is  as  good  as  the  other.  For  then  the  greenback 
represents  the  gold,  just  as  a  deed  represents  a  farm. 

But  when  the  government  says  that  it  may  be  converted  into  gold, 
but  has  not  enough  gold  to  do  so,  it  is  evident  that  the  value  of  the 
greenback  depends  partly  on  the  gold  of  the  country,  and  partly 
upon  its  promise;  then  it  follows  that  the  value  of  that  promise 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  greenbacks  over  gold. 

Thus,  the  value  of  the  greenback,  which  the  government  does  not 
require  to  be  converted  into  gold,  is  purely  arbitrary.  But  the 
American  greenbacker  of  1878  does  not  wish  to  anchor  this  little 
vessel  of  his,  to  the  harbor  of  Surety  with  the  anchor  of  gold,  and 
launches  his  little  paper  barque,  bearing  overhead  the  motto,  "One 
Dollar,"  into  the  sea  of  promise  and  expectation.  It  reminds  me 
of  "tramp,"  down  in  Virginia,  who  put  on  a  tall  hat  and  said,  "I  am 
General  Washington." 

But  the  greenbacker  says:  "The  government  of  the  people,  is 
by  the  people,  for  the  people;  and  if  the  laborer  says  that  he  will 
work  a  day  for  a  greenback,  that  the  farmer  should  say  that  he 
would  give  a  bushel  of  wheat  for  it;  and,  in  short,  every  man  should 
promise  to  give  so  much  of  his  wealth  for  it.  Then  is  the  greenback 
not  redeemed  every  time  an  exchange  is  made  with  one  of  those 
parties? 

"What  other  redemption  does  man  need  but  that  which  will 
furnish  him  with  the  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  life?  Supposing  a 
traveller  is  crossing  a  desert,  can  a  piece  of  your  gold  satisfy  the 
cravings  of  his  appetite,  or  appease  his  thirst,  or  clothe  the  nakedness 
of  his  body." 

No,  neither  does  gold  pretend  it  will;  money  was  not  made  for 
deserts  or  hermits,  but  for  the  convenience  of  civilization  and  society, 
and  that  being  true  we  want  that  money  which  will  do  society  the 
most  good. 

In  the  supposition  that  each  person  should  promise  to  give  so 
much  for  a  greenback,  the  value  of  the  greenback  would  depend 


52  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

entirely  upon  the  worth  of  the  promise;  then  comes  the  question, 
"How  much  is  the  promise  worth?" 

Is  it  possible  that  an  able  and  skilled  workman  will  promise  to 
work  for  as  little  as  a  poor  one?  Or  that  a  farmer  should  promise 
to  give  as  much  wheat  when  it  is  difficult  to  raise  it,  as  when  he  can 
raise  it  without  scarcely  any  trouble? 

These  suppositions  would  be  ridiculous.  When  the  greenback 
is  thus  based  on  the  products  of  the  country  it  will  vary  as  the  cost 
of  production  of  these  articles,  which  changes  almost  as  fast  as  the 
weather.  The  value  of  our  money  would  be  affected  by  every  breeze 
that  would  blow  over  the  fields,  not  only  that  but  its  manifest  dis- 
honesty would  produce  a  lack  of  confidence  toward  it  which  would 
tend  to  destroy  it. 

Even,  if  at  the  outstart  a  greenback  would  be  worth  as  much  as 
a  gold  dollar,  another  cause  would  greatly  destroy  its  value.  There 
is  but  a  certain  amount  of  money  required  to  transact  the  business 
of  the  country,  but  when  there  is  more  than  enough  to  perform  that 
function,  the  value  of  each  dollar  must  change  according  to  the  over 
supply;  unless  it  can  be  turned  to  some  other  purpose  equally 
important.  Just  as,  when  at  a  certain  business,  there  are  more 
laborers  than  work  the  wages  of  each  must  decrease,  unless  he  can 
find  work  at  some  other  business  which  pays  as  much. 

There  never  has  been  an  oversupply  of  gold  for  money;  but  even 
if  there  should  be,  its  value  for  jewelry  is  nearly  as  great,  unless 
the  supply  should  be  too  great,  which  a  record  of  three  thousand  years 
does  not  show.  A  greenback,  for  anything  except  money,  is  worth  no 
more  than  any  piece  of  paper  of  the  same  size,  which  is  about  1/1000 
of  its  face  value. 

Yet  in  every  country  in  which  it  has  been  issued,  regardless  of 
whatever  restrictions  might  have  been  imposed  upon  it  at  first,  it 
has  been  rushed  into  the  circulation  until  at  length  the  hugely, 
expanded  bubble  burst  leaving  a  very  small  sediment  behind. 

Thus  the  value  of  the  greenback  would  depreciate  with  threefold 
quickness;  yet  it  would  be  legal  tender  and  would  pay  debts  for  its 
face  value.  A  man  might  contract  a  debt  when  the  greenback  would 
be  at  its  maximum  value  and  could  pay  it  with  the  same  number  of 
greenbacks  when  the  value  of  each  would  be  worth  but  one  half 
what  they  were  when  he  made  the  debt. 

The  laboring  man,  whom  it  pretends  to  succor,  it  would  hit  with 
double  violence,  for  the  producer  of  any  raw  article  would  know  that 
the  greenbacks,  with  which  he  would  be  paid,  would  depreciate,  and 
would  therefore  charge  enough  extra  to  ensure  himself;  the  manu- 
facturer of  this  article  would  do  likewise;  ditto,  the  wholesale  and 
retail  dealers;  and  when  it  conies  to  the  laborer  for  consumption, 
with  what  does  he  pay  for  it?  The  employer,  for  whom  he  works, 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  53 

cannot  invest  his  capital  for  nothing,  he  must  therefore  protect  himself 
against  loss  by  the  depreciation  of  the  greenback  and  must,  therefore, 
deduct  from  the  laborers'  wages;  and  with  these  diminished  wages  he 
goes  to  pay  for  his  food  and  clothing,  the  price  of  which  would  be 
largely  increased  by  these  redoubled  insurances. 

If  a  man  should  save  a  few  of  those  greenbacks  it  would  be  a  good 
deal  like  saving  fall  apples  for  the  winter;  when  you  come  to  use 
them,  you  find  them  half  decayed,  just  as  the  greenback  would  be  by 
depreciation.  Not  only  would  it  hurt  the  other  classes  of  society 
indirectly,  by  hurting  the  laborer,  but  it  also  would  hurt  them 
directly. 

The  debts  of  the  business  man  would  be  insecure;  the  fluctuation 
of  the  greenback  often  exceeding  his  calculation,  thus  causing  him 
to  sustain  losses;  and  as  always  has  been  the  case  business  men  are 
loath  to  invest  their  capital  in  such  uncertain  times  and  then,  like 
the  unprofitable  servant,  they  lose  money  which  they  would  have 
gained  in  times  of  security;  many  business  men  would  leave  the 
country,  taking  their  capital  and  investing  profitably  abroad. 

Thus  irredeemable  paper  money  is  a  money  of  fraud  and  specula- 
tion; it  would  go  from  one  party  to  the  other,  choking  labor,  stifling 
capital  and  paving  the  way  for  wrecklessness,  idleness  and  theft.  As 
a  requisite  of  money,  gold  and  silver  have  large  value  in  small  space 
and  weight. 

If  greenbacks  were  immediately  convertible  into  gold,  this  matter 
of  convenience  would  be  of  considerable  importance  in  its  favor. 
But  it  would  be  as  much  easier  for  a  workman  to  carry  home  his 
wages  in  silver  and  gold,  than  in  irredeemable  greenbacks,  as  it 
would  for  him  to  carry  home  a  stomach  filled  with  food,  than  one 
filled  with  air,  though  the  latter  is  the  lighter. 

The  counterfeiter  wastes  his  brains  endeavoring  to  imitate  gold, 
nothing  but  gold  can  successfully  imitate  gold;  the  "ring"  of  gold 
cannot  be  produced  by  any  baser  metal.  In  making  paper  money 
counterfeiters  are  perfectly  at  home,  and  have  done  an  extensive 
business  at  it  in  this  country  alone.  For  instance  in  1875  the  fifty 
cent  scrip  had  been  so  dangerously  counterfeited,  that  it  had  to  be 
withdrawn  from  circulation,  and  the  plate  changed. 

In  order  to  counterfeit  gold  money,  the  thief  has  to  have  the 
bullion,  then  he  finds  it  greatly  to  his  advantage  to  be  honest;  for 
he  can  get  nearly  as  much  for  his  bullion,  as  though  it  were  coined 
money,  and  make  the  exchange  too  without  incurring  any  risk  to 
himself.  To  counterfeit  greenbacks  all  the  thief  has  to  have  is  a  pile 
of  paper,  a  printing  press  and  a  little  ingenuity,  to  make  money 
nearly  as  well  as  the  government. 

The  greenbacker  says  that  he  wants  a  currency  for  America,  not 
for  India  or  China.  He  might  assure  himself  of  that  fact,  for  not 


54  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

even  a  redeemable  greenback  would  be  received  outside  of  the  country 
which  issued  it;  it  would  thoroughly  protect  them  from  the  trade 
of  the  outside  world. 

But  what  would  the  nation  do  in  time  of  need  or  war?  Would 
foreign  countries  send  their  assistance  and  their  products  to  America 
to  be  paid  in  greenbacks?  They  could  make  enough  of  that  kind 
of  money  at  home,  without  sending  their  goods  to  this  country  to 
get  it. 

Silver  and  gold  on  the  contrary  are  recognized  as  money  by  the 
whole  civilized  world,  and  even  the  savages  exchange  their  goods  for  it. 

Therefore  gold  and  silver  approach  nearer  the  requirements  of 
money  than  any  other  article,  make  the  best  money;  and  greenbacks, 
unless  immediately  convertible  into  gold,  do  not  make  good  money. 

Then  let  America  pay  her  debts  honestly.  In  an  hour  of  desperate 
need  this  money  had  been  lent  by  foreigners,  as  well  as  private 
individuals  in  this  country;  and  without  this  money  with  what  would 
the  arms,  ammunitions  and  provisions  of  war  been  furnished?  With 
what  would  the  soldiers  have  been  paid?  And  in  short,  what  would 
have  become  of  the  Union  itself,  of  our  boasted  strength  and  liberty 
bought  by  the  blood  of  the  patriots  of  1776? 

Then  let  America  be  true  to  its  faithful  promises  and  sacred  pledges. 
The  nation  can  no  more  discharge  its  debts  with  spurious  greenbacks, 
than  a  business  man  can  pay  for  his  goods  by  giving,  in  return  for 
them,  his  note.  A  nation  is  a  collection  of  individuals,  and  what  is 
true  of  the  individual  ought  to  be  true  of  the  nation. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  like  to  say  that  if  the  government  can  dis- 
charge its  debts  in  such  an  easy  way,  why  cannot  the  school  boy 
improve  the  occasion  and  do  likewise?  So  that  when  Friday  comes 
around  with  its  dread  requirements,  he  might  write  the  words,  "  This 
is  a  composition, "  on  a  piece  of  paper  and  gravely  hand  it  in,  for  its 
face  value. 


THE  WANTS  OF  THE  AGE 

All  of  us  are  influenced  by  our  surroundings.  The  people  with 
whom  we  associate,  the  books  that  we  read,  the  philosophy  of  the 
age  have  a  powerful  and  generally  an  all-controlling  influence  upon 
character.  There  are  very  few  persons  in  the  history  of  the  world 
that  have  risen  above  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  and  very  few  have 
fallen  below  it. 

Then,  that  we  may  be  true  to  ourselves  and  to  that  ideal  standard 
of  right,  which  every  one  must  have,  we  should  understand  the  defects 
of  the  times  in  which  we  live.  We  are  told  that  it  is  wrong  to  look 
upon  the  dark  side;  that  we  ought  to  cheer  ourselves  with  the  knowl- 
edge that  there  is  more  good  than  bad  in  the  world. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  55 

If  we  ought  to  do  this,  then  we  ought  to  abandon  our  clergymen, 
our  doctors,  our  teachers,  our  philosophers  and  moralists,  all  of  whom 
do  little  more  than  continually  remind  us  of  our  faults. 

Does  the  doctor  content  himself  with  the  thought  that  there  is  yet 
life  in  his  patient,  or  does  he  grapple  with  the  disease  itself?  Is  the 
man  whose  house  is  on  fire,  satisfied  to  know  that  much  is  yet  unin- 
jured, or  does  he  try  to  stifle  the  flames? 

I  ask  ye  that  study  Greek,  is  our  teacher  content  with  some  flowery 
spot  in  our  declension,  or  does  he  unsparingly  pluck  up  the  weedy 
growth  of  our  moods  and  tenses? 

It  is  best,  cheered  by  the  inevitable  dominion  of  justice  and  virtue, 
to  attempt  to  find  out  what  is  wrong  and  faulty,  that  we  may  avoid 
it;  and  though  our  efforts  be  as  the  drop  of  water  in  the  ocean,  still 
we  can  do  our  part  and  rectify  that  for  which  we  are  responsible. 

Taking  as  comprehensive  a  view  of  the  times  as  possible,  it  seems  to 
me  that  this  is  a  hollow  age,  lacking  in  depth  of  religion,  morality, 
thought  and  feeling.  The  sad  disclosures,  that  are,  and  have  been, 
constantly  coming  to  light  from  different  parts  of  the  civilized  world, 
show  that  the  religious  opinions  and  customs  of  the  people  are  too 
much  influenced  by  outward,  public  considerations. 

Thus  the  moral  code  that  emanates  from  it  must  be  of  the  same 
nature  and  is  tinged  with  the  same  shallowness  of  spirit.  Children 
are  often  told  to  do  right  for  crimes  are  always  discovered,  wrong- 
doers are  always  punished.  And  this  same  spirit  seems  to  be  con- 
tinued forth  from  the  infant  home  into  the  world  and  to  control  the 
public  actions  of  men,  in  a  great  measure. 

Merchants,  bankers,  lawyers,  legislators  recognize  right  much  more 
for  its  expediency  than  for  its  eternal  worth,  for  its  intrinsic  merit. 
The  constitution  and  laws  recognize  no  religion,  though  they  do 
pretend  a  state  morality. 

Thus  they  attempt  to  suppress  Mormonism  as  dangerous  to  its 
morality,  but  they  must  treat  it  as  a  religion.  Hence  their  dilemma. 
How  obvious  is  the  futility  of  a  nation's  efforts  to  preserve  its  own 
foundation,  in  the  strong  character  and  moral  worth  of  its  people,  by 
a  statement  of  fines  and  penalties  when  crime  is  discovered. 

Why,  the  moral  life  may  deteriorate  by  degrees,  the  very  heart  of 
the  nation  may  become  decayed  and  rotten  ere  we  become  aware  of 
it  by  outward  indications.  The  laws  can  only  smooth  and  polish 
the  surface,  while  within  the  vile,  wickedness  and  venom  may  be 
infinite. 

It  is  mere  fiat,  superficial  morality  instead  of  that  inward  current 
that  should  force  us,  sweep  us,  right  onward  in  the  channel  of  recti- 
tude. This,  then,  is  the  first  defect  in  the  foundation;  it  is  the  ulcer 
in  the  public  heart  that  poisons  the  blood  in  its  entire  circulation. 
Then  out  of  this  spirit  of  impiety,  comes  the  desire  to  cast  off  author- 
ity, for  the  basis  of  all  authority  is  in  religion. 


56  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

We  hear  much  of  the  freedom  of  thought,  of  speech,  of  act.  Lib- 
erty! liberty!  comes  the  cry  from  all  sides.  I  believe  true  liberty  to 
be  the  greatest  boon  conferred  upon  man,  but  I  detest  the  popular, 
delusive  idea  of  liberty. 

True  liberty  is  not  freedom  in  everything  we  choose,  it  is  negative, 
it  is  the  removal  from  us  of  wrong.  Instead  of  giving  us  power  for 
unlimited  motion  in  any  or  all  directions,  like  a  wild  horse  on  the 
plains,  or  an  engine  turned  off  the  track,  it  places  us  under  additional 
bonds  and  restraint. 

The  most  trivial  thing  that  we  can  imagine  is  governed  by  law. 
Leaves  blown  through  the  air,  insects  crawling  on  the  ground,  bubbles 
on  the  sea  act  in  obedience  to  eternal  laws.  And  because  the  great 
Author  gave  man  partial  control  of  his  destiny  by  the  dominion  of  his 
will,  should  he  prove  himself  so  unworthy  of  his  trust  as  to  attempt  to 
remove  all  law,  which  would  be  chaos  and  confusion  itself? 

There  are  two  other  qualities  of  which  I  would  speak  with  reserve, 
namely,  thought  and  feeling.  They  are  intimately  connected;  and 
in  the  formation  of  character,  each  is  the  supplement  of  the  other. 
This  age  has  highly  utilized  the  productions  of  the  great  minds  of 
these  and  by-gone  times.  On  account  of  the  vast  improvement  in 
all  things,  thousands  of  miles  can  be  traversed,  mentally  as  well  as 
bodily,  with  scarcely  an  effort. 

Thus,  in  embracing  the  universe,  a  small  appreciation  of  any  of  it 
is  obtained.  But  the  construction  of  the  human  mind  is  still  the 
same,  and  must  have  its  own  time  to  work,  which  people  seem  to 
partially  forget  in  the  acceleration  of  attainment  by  other  agents. 
This  age  is  a  fast  one;  people  rush  on  in  thoughtless  masses,  scarcely 
heeding  their  "ahence  or  whither."  We  are  reaping  the  fruits  of 
others'  labors,  and  we  poorly  appreciate  them. 

Truly  every  good  is  accompanied  by  an  evil.  A  great  man  has 
said  that  words  were  given  us  to  conceal  our  thoughts,  and  observing 
the  majority,  one  would  almost  be  led  to  the  same  conclusion.  In- 
stead of  arising  from  within,  the  thoughts  and  actions  of  the  people, 
to  too  great  an  extent,  arise  from  outward  sources. 

They  speak  a  dead  language,  they  execute  dead  thoughts  and  feel 
dead  feelings.  For  how  are  they  but  dead,  when  the  emotions  of  the 
heart  and  the  promptings  of  the  soul,  which  caused  them,  are  gone? 

These,  then,  I  believe  are  the  defects  in  the  principles,  the  results  of 
which,  in  their  concrete  forms,  continually  pour  in  upon  us  in  the 
newspapers.  We  see  their  execution  in  the  crimes  and  vices  of  the 
land. 

Yet  these  defects  are,  to  some  degree,  hi  the  breasts  of  every  one  of 
us.  How  many  of  us  are  there  who  reflect  that  the  same  spirit  that 
caused  Nero  to  torture  his  subjects  is  the  same  one  that  prompts  us  to 
speak  ill  of  our  neighbors? 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  57 

Politics  are  now  causing  a  great  turmoil  throughout  the  country, 
and  what  honest  person  is  there  who  is  not  disgusted  with  the  actions 
of  politicians?  With  their  personal  slander,  their  fraud  and  general 
corruption?  And  how  much  worse  it  is  to  think  that  those  are  the 
chosen  men  of  the  land.  They  are  probably,  as  good,  or  a  great  deal 
better  than  the  men  they  represent.  If  this  nation  is  to  continue, 
it  is  not  with  them  that  the  reform  must  commence. 

The  solidity  of  the  government  can  only  be  preserved  by  the  deep 
honesty,  by  the  moral  worth,  intelligence  and  integrity  of  its  citizens. 
With  these  her  mighty  resources  could  be  developed  and  her  pros- 
perity and  happiness  continued  without  ceasing. 

Without  these,  want,  wretched  crime  and  dissolution,  which  are 
now  advancing,  would  be  propagated;  and  just  as  sure  as  others  have 
fallen  before,  just  so  sure  would  she  fall  ere  many  centuries  would 
have  passed  away. 

BACON'S  METHOD 

Men  love  to  anticipate,  not  only,  it  would  seem,  because  of  the  sav- 
ing of  effort,  but  also  because  of  a  mental  delight  in  it.  Hence,  the 
ancient  philosophers  endeavored  to  conjure  up,  as  it  were  from  magic 
of  their  brains,  new  worlds,  material  and  spiritual,  instead  of  trying 
to  find  out  the  nature  of  the  one  God  had  made. 

Accordingly,  their  philosophies,  as  is  shown  by  their  numerous 
schools,  were  as  much  expositions  of  individual  peculiarities  as  uni- 
versal principles;  and  as  those  different  systems  passed  from  their 
authors  to  the  disciples,  they  became  filled  with  vain  speculations, 
and  perversion  of  sense  in  interpretation;  and  in  the  controversies  of 
rival  schools  with  the  empty  subtleties  of  an  elusive  logic  and  a 
mutual  misconception  of  each  other's  standpoints.  So  that  for  the 
mass  of  mankind  those  philosophies  lay  far  away  in  the  misty  cloud- 
land  of  abstraction,  and  scarcely  ever  gave  or  allowed  a  ray  of  light  to 
fall  upon  man  in  his  blind  struggle  with  the  terrible  forces  of  nature. 

Thus  he  lived  in  superstitious  ignorance  of  the  world,  himself  and 
his  relation  to  the  world.  But  as  the  ages  rolled  on,  a  disposition  to 
depart  from  old  modes  of  thoughts  became  manifest,  and  waxed  strong 
in  Western  Europe  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 

Bacon  was  the  representative  and  champion  of  this  disposition. 
His  method  of  philosophy  is  that  of  a  common-sense  man,  who  instead 
of  lamenting  his  own  frailty  and  the  baseness  of  earth  tries  to  make  the 
most  of  his  situation,  to  gain  knowledge  of,  and  power  over,  his  cir- 
cumstances. 

He  saw  nature,  an  endless  round  of  materials  and  forces,  and  man 
subsisting  by  it  and  upon  it,  ignorant  of  what  it  was,  and  exceedingly 
liable  to  error  in  his  judgment. 


58  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Hence  his  purpose  is  twofold:  First  to  show  man  the  sources  of 
error  in  his  intellect,  and,  second,  to  give  him  a  plan  to  examine  and 
gain  power  over  nature.  So  he  enumerates  four  kinds  of  error  liable 
to  the  human  mind,  which  he  calls  idols. 

Idola  Tribus,  or  universal  errors,  liable  because  of  the  constitution 
of  man ; 

Idola  Specus,  or  those  that  may  arise  from  individual  peculiarities; 

Idola  Fori,  or  those  that  may  occur  by  misconception  in  the  inter- 
course of  society; 

Idola  Theatri,  or  untruths  that  may  arise  from  the  schools  of 
philosophy. 

Man  being  thus  cautioned  with  regard  to  himself  should  next  pre- 
pare as  complete  a  history  as  is  possible  of  all  the  facts  and  experiments 
belonging  to  whatever  is  to  be  inquired  into,  and  Bacon  enumerates 
histories  of  many  conditions  of  earths  and  air,  fire  and  water,  and  man 
and  other  animals  in  their  different  conditions  and  relations.  Most  of 
those  bodies,  substances  or  conditions  will  contain  several  qualities 
such  as  density,  porosity,  color,  brilliancy,  weight,  heat  or  fluidity; 
and  these  must  be  inquired  into  separately  with  the  view  of  determin- 
ing their  immanent  supporting  causes,  which  Bacon  calls  forms. 

Individual  facts  differ  in  their  power  to  illustrate  any  quality  under 
question.  Some  may  contain  that  quality  in  the  highest  degree, — 
which  Bacon  calls  ostensive  examples, — and  others  totally  lack  it  and 
these  are  called  negative  examples,  and  between  these  two  extremes 
Bacon  enumerates  twenty-five  kinds  of  examples,  according  to  their 
degree  and  manner  of  illustration. 

If  transparency  is  the  quality  in  question,  a  history  of  the  materials 
that  contain  it  together  with  negative  instances  should  be  prepared; 
skillful  experiments  should  be  performed  upon  these  materials,  and 
these  materials,  and  the  results  with  reference  to  transparency  care- 
fully noted.  Then  some  one  substance,  as  glass,  should  be  taken  and 
all  possible  causes  or  forms  of  its  transparency  excluded. 

Thus  glass  is  a  solid,  brittle  material,  and  hence  neither  fluidity, 
porosity  or  malleability  can  account  for  its  transparency;  then  like 
processes  should  be  taken  with  other  transparent  substances,  exclud- 
ing as  many  causes  as  possible  till  the  different  materials  tried  have 
but  few  principles  in  common  that  might  account  for  it. 

Then  assuming  one  of  these  as  cause,  endeavor  should  be  made  in 
the  opposite  manner  by  deductive  reasoning,  to  see  if  it  will  account 
for  the  quality.  Thus  by  a  definite  graduated  round  of  preparation, 
experiments,  induction  and  verification  the  true  cause  must  almost 
inevitably  be  reached. 

From  specific  principles  thus  determined,  the  method  proceeds 
higher  and  higher  with  caution  and  circumspection  to  general 
principles. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  59 

This  is  an  imperfect  skeleton  of  the  full-fleshed  body  of  Bacon's 
Indestructive  Method,  that  lives,  and  breathes  the  spirit  of  life,  of 
science. 

It  requires  neither  that  man  should  go  to  nature  like  a  worm  to 
eat  the  dirt,  nor  like  a  god  to  come  and  say  it  must  be  so  because  I 
think  it.  Its  author  intended  it  to  have  two  elements  that  he  judged 
those  of  old  had  not :  utility  and  progress. 

It  flows  from  never  drying  springs,  for  it  depends  on  the  ingrained 
human  love  for  knowledge,  and  produces  the  rewards  of  life  which 
men  will  probably  ever  seek.  And  as  a  small  number  of  nature's 
powers  can  be  used  for  countless  millions  of  purposes,  there  will  prob- 
ably never  be  limit  or  end  to  its  growth  while  man  lasts. 

To  this  method  Bacon  owes  his  title  of  Father  of  Experimental 
Philosophy.  Others,  indeed,  had  used  the  inductive  method  before 
him,  others  had  experimented  before  him,  but  it  seems  to  be  agreed 
that  he  was  the  best  exponent  of  the  inductive  method  and  fitted  it 
best  for  scientific  use,  especially  by  the  element  of  verification. 

Modern  scientists  do  not  use  it  exactly  in  its  original  shape,  but, 
nevertheless,  they  use  a  development  of  that  method;  and  Bacon, 
himself,  presumed  it  contained  some  errors  which  would  be  removed  in 
its  development. 

Thus  the  Baconian  Scientist  is  at  once  the  wooer  and  betrayer  of 
Nature.  He  loves  her  passionately,  watches  her  afar  and  anear, 
ardently  embraces  her,  learns  the  secrets  of  her  heart,  and  when  he 
has  her  in  his  power,  uses  her  wealth  and  knowledge  as  his  own. 

Thus  when  man  will  have  consummated  the  work  which  Bacon 
anticipated  he  will  be  doubly  strong,  in  his  brain  with  living  thoughts 
fresh  from  the  hand-book  of  the  All-Wise  and  in  his  arm,  strengthened 
with  the  power  that  spins  the  heavenly  bodies  as  if  they  were  but  toys. 


THE  UNKNOWN 

It  flashes  in  the  noonday  sun,  and  dwells  in  the  darkness  that  binds 
the  midnight.  It  glares  in  the  scorching  heat  of  the  tropics;  and 
still  it  howls  with  the  polar  blast.  Down  deep  into  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  it  thrives;  and  exists  in  the  silvery  radiance  of  the  moon. 
Every  star  twinkles  with  it;  and  the  flowers  bloom  under  its  breath. 

It  lives  in  the  raging  of  the  winds  and  the  waves,  and  is  with  them 
when  they  are  calm  again.  It  exists  in  the  cold  and  heat,  light  and 
darkness.  It  is  still  the  Unknown.  It  rolls  and  surges  in  clouds  of 
flame  and  darkness,  and  bursts  asunder  in  thunder  and  lightning. 
It  comes  in  the  stillness  of  terror;  and  laughs  from  the  eyeless  sockets 
of  deadmen.  'Tis  the  parent  and  offspring  of  death;  'tis  the  life 
and  death  of  creation. 

It  dwells  in  brains  of  sages,  for  they  know  by  ways  that  are  unknow- 


60  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

able.  Come,  get  thou  astride  a  sunbeam  and  we'll  fly  from  the  center 
of  nothing  to  the  bounds  of  its  being.  We've  outstripped  time;  the 
wind  reels  and  shrinks  within  itself,  yet  the  soul  rises  up,  swells  out 
and  fills  up  the  universe.  'Tis  still  the  Unknown. 

Light  falls  upon  the  eye,  and  the  beauties  of  nature  flash  upon  the 
mind.  But  what  know  the  light  and  the  mind  of  each  other,  or  who 
taught  them  acquaintance?  And  the  Unknown  cries  out  in  answer. 
'Tis  the  wise  man's  wisdom,  and  the  folly  of  the  fool.  Its  beginning 
is  eternity  and  its  boundaries  are  the  Everlasting.  It  animates  the 
heart  of  man,  and  is  ever  present  in  his  pleasure. 

It  is  the  spirit  of  virtue,  and  the  cause  of  deceit.  On  martyrs' 
tombs  it  stands;  in  patriots'  graves  it  lies.  It  rages  in  the  whirlwind 
and  battle;  again  it  descends  beneath  the  wind  of  Peace.  It  groans 
in  despair;  laughs  in  joy  and  shouts  in  triumph.  It  is  ever  the  Un- 
known. 

It  moans  in  the  bitterness  of  Want,  yet  it  hardens  the  heart  of 
Pride.  It  teaches  us  that  we  are  but  atoms  'twixt  the  thumb  and 
forefinger  of  eternity,  and  still  it  says:  "The  end  is  not  yet." 

While  the  occupation  of  the  historian  remains,  the  ever-prevailing 
influence  of  the  Unknown  must  be  recorded;  and  when  the  last  his- 
torian shall  throw  down  his  pen  for  the  last  time,  the  Unknown  will 
be  but  in  the  beginning  of  its  existence.  Whether  it  appears  in 
Grecian,  Roman  or  Hindustan  idols;  Israelitish  sacrifices,  inquisitions, 
witch-burning,  alchemy  or  astrology;  whether  it  appear  under  form 
of  Zeus  or  Odin,  another  Paul  may  ever  find  an  altar  still  dedicated  to 
the  Unknown. 

With  eagle  gaze  man  penetrates  all  co-existent  being,  from  the 
immensity  of  the  heavens  that  arch  above  him,  to  the  atoms  of  the 
matter  at  his  feet,  judging  all  things  by  himself.  But,  by  what  will 
he  judge  himself?  When  he  has  brought  the  spoils  of  the  universe  to 
the  feet  of  his  mind,  he  is  face  to  face  with  another  greater  mystery 
within,  which  leads  on  to  mystery,  spreads  out  in  mystery,  mystery 
without  end.  Whether  superstition  or  knowledge,  it  is  still  the 
Unknown.  But  why  let  this  dishearten  or  intimidate?  If  all  things 
besides  are  strange,  mysterious  and  unknowable,  so  are  we;  and  things 
of  the  same  kind  can  know  each  other.  All  creation  is  bound  together 
in  mutual  knowledge  and  love.  And  in  love,  we  are  told,  is  contained 
all  the  laws  of  God  and  the  prophets.  So  that  the  least  disturbance 
or  interruption  in  any  part  will  cause  a  wave  that  will  break  on  the 
farthest  shores  of  time,  and  vibrate  through  all  eternity. 

The  planets  are  bound  in  each  other's  arms,  and  sweep  through  space 
in  harmony.  The  sun  beams  upon  the  sky,  and  the  sky  smiles  to  the 
sun;  she  grows  resplendent  in  gorgeous  hues  and  outdoes  herself  in 
enthusiastic  gladness.  The  clouds  bathe  the  earth,  and  the  earth 
cherishes  the  germs  of  beauty  in  her  bosom,  which  at  length  burst 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  61 

forth  in  trees  and  buds  and  flowers,  which  send  up  their  perfume  in 
gladness  together. 

And  even  thunderstorm  and  angry  blast  are  but  the  harbingers  of 
brighter  and  purer  days.  'Tis  only  cold  and  darkness  and  uncertain 
things  that  are  unkind;  and  I  can  but  think  that  even  these  were 
intended  as  tests  and  spices  for  the  created.  For  without  darkness, 
we  would  not  appreciate  the  light;  without  cold,  warmth  would  be  too 
hot;  and  when  wrong  is  impossible,  the  welldoer  loses  his  merit. 

THINK  FOR  YOURSELF 

When  God  commanded  man  to  subdue  and  conquer  all  things  upon 
the  earth,  how  did  he  intend  him  to  accomplish  it?  Was  it  by  the 
strength  of  his  muscles?  We  cannot  think  that  the  God  of  Wisdom 
ever  designed  man  to  perform  such  an  utterly  impossible  task.  For 
how  does  man  compare  in  such  strength  with  the  elements  or  with  the 
beasts  of  the  field?  With  the  winds  that  roar  with  the  hurricane,  or 
the  lightnings  that  flash  through  the  heavens,  or  the  waters  that  dash 
against  the  cliffs?  With  the  huge  elephant,  the  roaring  lion  or  the 
mighty  leviathan? 

Then  how  can  he  obey  the  precept? 

By  the  assistance  of  a  mightier  force,  a  divine  institution,  the  pow- 
ers of  the  brain.  By  this  force  was  man  to  overcome  the  elements, 
and  to  become  the  master  of  all  other  living  creatures;  this  was  to 
be  the  seat  of  all  his  power  and  pleasure. 

And  the  wonderful  results  that  have  sprung  from  the  exercise  of 
this  power,  we  see  all  around  us.  In  the  animal  creation  we  see  the 
horse,  the  elephant,  the  camel  and  even  the  tawny  lion,  obedient  to  the 
voice  of  its  master;  he  makes  fire  drive  his  steamship  from  port  to 
port,  and  his  iron  horse  over  the  iron  road;  he  makes  the  winds  drive 
his  vessels  over  the  ocean ;  he  compels  the  waters  to  manufacture  his 
goods,  and  the  lightnings  to  bear  his  messages  through  the  air. 

Not  only  does  his  brain  satisfy  his  absolute  wants,  but  it  lifts  him 
on  the  wings  of  its  imagination  into  the  heavens  and  bears  back  the 
lesson  to  his  heart  and  soul.  It  draws  reason  from  nature  and  makes 
him  a  philosopher;  it  culls  sweet  fancies  and  happy  thoughts  from  the 
works  of  nature  and  makes  him  a  poet. 

Although  no  one  would  think  of  borrowing  another  eye  or  nose  or 
ear,  mouth  or  tongue,  yet  many  are  perfectly  satisfied  to  use  another's 
brains  or  thoughts  and  some  do  not  use  any  brains  at  all. 

What  are  books  but  the  stored  up  knowledge  and  thoughts  of 
others,  and  those  who  depend  entirely  upon  them  fall  when  left  to 
themselves.  "Yes,  but,"  you  may  say,  "God  gave  those  persons 
more  natural  faculties  and  greater  capabilities." 

You  are  not  sure  of  this  and  even  if  you  were,  you  will  acknowledge 


62  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

that  he  gave  you  a  few  brains  of  your  own;  and  you  cannot  tell  how 
much  he  did  really  give  you  till  you  make  a  trial  of  them  and  use  them. 

What  would  the  world  have  done  if  Homer,  Shakespeare,  Milton, 
Newton,  Kepler  and  Gallileo,  had  been  satisfied  to  let  someone  else 
think  for  them?  They  would  not  have  been  of  any  more  importance 
to  the  world  now,  than  the  shadows  they  cast  in  the  sunshine,  if  they 
had  not  proved  themselves  to  be,  by  thinking. 

If  in  the  matter  of  religion,  you  allow  some  one  else  to  think  for 
you,  it  may  be  Satan  in  the  guise  of  a  friend.  If  you  do  not  think, 
you  cannot  do  justice  to  either  yourself  or  your  neighbor:  You 
cannot  do  justice  to  yourself  because  then  you  cannot  satisfy  the 
physical  or  moral  requirements  of  the  body;  nor  without  using  reason, 
judgment  and  thought,  can  you  distinguish  right  from  wrong. 

This  power  of  thought  was  Napoleon's  superiority  over  other  men, . 
not  only  did  he  think  and  act  himself,  but  he  made  a  large  part  of  the 
world  act  for  him.     Let  not  the  magnitude  of  the  mental  work 
frighten  you;    things  just  as  great  have  been  achieved  by  mortals 
before. 

Shakespeare  within  the  little  town  of  Stratford-on-Avon  could 
grasp  the  habits  and  feelings  of  all  characters,  and  all  times,  and  use 
them  for  the  foundations  of  new  ones  in  his  own  mind. 

Edmund  Burke,  without  stirring  his  foot  from  English  soil,  could 
see  the  whole  country  of  India  with  its  people,  from  the  throne  of 
Hastings  to  the  hut  of  the  meanest  peasant;  he  had  so  thoroughly 
mastered  history  as  to  foretell  the  future  career  of  nations  with  almost 
prophetic  certainty. 

Be  not  like  Solomon's  fool  that  "walketh  through  the  forest  and 
sees  no  fire-wood,"  the  whole  world  is  replete  with  wise  lessons  if  you 
only  trace  their  connection  in  your  mind. 

The  pleasures  of  thought  and  knowledge  are  not  like  the  sensual 
pleasures  of  the  gay  world  at  large,  which  flee  when  the  merriment  is 
over,  and  leave  you  as  thoroughly  alone  as  the  man  in  the  moon,  but 
it  is  a  part  of  your  vitality  and  yourself.  It  is  an  infallible  source  of 
delight,  a  never  ending  fount  of  joy  and  pleasure. 

To  the  thoughtful  man  the  flowers  and  the  trees,  the  hills  and  the 
valleys,  the  sun,  the  moon  and  the  stars  have  their  own  wise  lessons  to 
teach;  and  when  darkness  envelops  the  scene,  then  can  he  roam 
through  the  forest  of  his  imaginations,  and  revel  in  the  kingdom  of  his 
mind.  Milton  realized  this  when  he  said  that  "Divine  Philosophy 
is  not  harsh  and  crabbed  as  dull  fools  suppose,  but  tuneful  as  is 
Apollo's  lute." 

Then  think  for  yourself,  grasp  the  thought  from  the  records  of 
sages,  or  from  the  face  of  nature;  whirl  it  through  your  mind;  tear 
it  to  pieces  with  the  forceps  of  your  brain;  be  familiar  with  each  of 
its  parts  alone  or  all  together;  digest  it,  assimilate  it  and  make  it 
your  own. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  63 

TRUE  LIBERTY:  WHERE  SOUGHT?     WHERE  FOUND? 

We  are  all  interested  in  liberty.  The  school-boy,  at  his  desk,  sighs 
for  liberty;  the  youth,  under  paternal  correction,  pines  for  liberty; 
the  prisoner  in  his  cell,  groans  for  liberty,  the  slave,  under  the  lash, 
cries  aloud  for  liberty;  the  poet  sings  his  sweetest  songs  for  liberty; 
the  orator  swells  into  his  grandest  bursts  of  eloquence  for  liberty; 
the  musician  sounds  his  wildest  notes  to  liberty;  the  revolutionist 
risks  his  fortune  and  his  life  for  liberty. 

Then  what  is  it,  for  which  this  inspiration  surges  in  the  human 
breast?  Can  it  be  that  we  are  ever  sighing  and  wishing  for  some- 
thing of  which  we  know  nothing? 

What  is  true  liberty?  Is  it  freedom  from  restraint?  Is  that  the 
liberty  for  which  the  Pilgrim  fathers  fled  from  England  and  came 
to  the  Western  Continent?  Did  they  seek  to  be  free  from  all  moral 
and  physical  laws?  In  other  words,  that  they  might  become  des- 
peradoes? If  that  was  the  liberty  they  shed  their  blood  for  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  what  a  lie  the  liberty  was  that  they  blazoned 
on  their  banners,  when  they  immediately  made  laws  to  restrain  the 
passions  of  the  people! 

If  liberty  means  freedom  from  restraint,  then  the  howling,  frenzied, 
drunken,  crazed  savage  is  the  best  disciple  of  liberty  that  we  can  find. 
But  let  us  leave  this  absurd  theory;  we  want  no  liberty  if  that  is  all 
it  promises.  Where  can  we  find  such  a  sublime  definition  of  liberty 
as  is  contained  in  the  Scriptures?  Christ  said  to  his  apostles,  "You 
shall  know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  set  you  free."  This  is, 
indeed,  the  spirit  of  freedom,  of  true  liberty! 

Taking  this  as  standard,  let  us  go  forth  among  mankind,  and  apply 
it  to  him  and  his  works  and  ascertain  where  true  liberty  is  to  be 
found. 

As  we  go  back  over  the  past  history  of  the  world,  over  the  poetical 
days  of  chivalry  and  cavaliers,  what  a  dreary,  desolate  spectacle  is 
presented?  What  over-powering  tides  of  tyranny  and  despotism 
we  behold! 

The  wretched  vassal  was  a  slave  in  mind  and  body;  the  king  on 
his  throne  was  a  miserable  slave  to  his  passions.  There  might  made 
right;  and  ambition  crowded  truth,  justice  and  morality,  the  trinity 
of  true  liberty,  to  the  earth  and  made  the  possession  of  them  a  crime. 

Reason  and  truth  struggled  with  the  wild  fancies,  dreams  and 
superstitions  of  the  scientists,  and  the  philosophers  were  sophisters 
who  built  their  theories  upon  fallacy  and  continued  them  to  absurdity. 

Ignorance,  the  enslaver  of  the  intellect,  ruled  supreme.  Liberty 
was  in  slavery!  But  in  this  vast  desert  of  tyranny  and  slavery, 
here  and  there  we  found  oases  of  liberty. 

That  sacred  fire  burned  brightly  in  the  infancy  of  the  Grecian  and 


64  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Roman  republics.  And  even  after  opulence  and  corruption  began 
to  usurp  the  land  we  find  Socrates  chasing  the  sophisters  through  the 
mazes  of  their  foolishness  and  dashing  to  fragments  their  groundless 
frostwork;  and  although  surrounded  with  the  darkness  of  Paganism 
he  raised  his  theories  and  aspirations  almost  into  the  light  of 
Christianity  and  liberty. 

We  find  Demosthenes  throwing  off  the  fetters  of  scheming  tyranny 
and  thundering  forth  his  Philippics.  Brutus  cries:  "But  as  he  was 
ambitious,  I  slew  him, "  so  loudly  that  it  rings  in  our  ears  to-day. 

Cicero  denounces  Catiline,  and  where  can  we  find  such  examples  of 
lofty  liberty  as  the  early  Christians,  suffering  untold  tortures  and 
meeting  death  without  flinching,  rather  than  deny  the  truth. 

There  is  a  limit  to  human  endurance,  there  is  a  time  when  all  the 
powers  of  man's  being  springs  up  and  demands  his  rights  as  a  human 
being,  and  we  find  that  where  the  oppression  became  too  great,  the 
fire-brand  of  liberty  kindled  successively  its  conflagrations  over 
the  different  nations  of  Europe. 

Now  I  come  to  America,  "sweet  land  of  liberty,"  and  ask  you 
to  tell  candidly  if  she  is  entirely  free  from  slavery,  even  if  the  four 
millions  of  negroes  have  been  emancipated.  Is  she  free  from  preju- 
dice that  would  restrain  a  man  from  the  exercise  of  his  duty? 

Or  is  she  free  from  the  domineering  influence  of  society  that  requires 
a  person  to  tell  petty,  fashionable  lies,  to  run  all  his  thoughts  and 
words  into  one  mould?  That  requires  a  man  in  order  to  be  popular 
to  make  his  words  to  suit  the  people  instead  of  suiting  them  to  his 
own  conscience  as  the  God  of  nature  intended?  Has  the  Rum  king 
no  influence  over  his  people?  Or  are  there  no  sophisters  among  her 
financiers,  or  philosophers? 

I  ask  you  if  the  "mighty  dollar"  ever  curbs  the  opinions  or  liberty 
of  her  inhabitants?  Has  it  no  power  over  her  ballot  boxes?  Does 
it  ever  make  highway  robbers  or  lobby  sneak  thieves  of  her  people? 

A  consultation  of  facts  will  readily  answer  these  questions.  Now 
let  me  cautiously  take  a  peep  into  the  sphere  of  morals  and  religion 
and  ascertain  if  all  is  liberty  here.  Laying  aside  the  countless  millions 
of  human  creatures  that  are  sunk  in  hopeless  fanaticism  and  hea- 
thenism, what  do  I  behold  as  I  turn  to  Christianity,  but  what  I  think 
ought  to  be  an  everlasting  disgrace  to  its  authors!  I  find  fifty -five 
denominations  of  the  Christian  religion  with  antagonistic  doctrines. 
Are  there  fifty-five  gods,  and  a  prospect  for  some  more?  Or  if  there 
is  but  one  true  God,  and  consequently  but  one  true  doctrine,  can  the 
truth  be  divided?  Can  I  not  say  that  the  whole  is  equal  to  the  sum 
of  most  of  its  parts,  or  that  Massachusetts  lies  partly  in  Connecticut, 
and  have  these  versions  equally  good  with  the  truth?  I  argue  this 
not  as  a  religionist  but  as  a  dealer  with  plain  facts,  and  I  ask,  "Is 
this  the  liberty  the  German  reformer  sought  when  he  broke  the  bonds 
of  that  oft  quoted  superstition?" 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  65 

Finally,  I  think  that  we,  as  scholars  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
ought  to  remember  that  true  liberty  lies  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  in  the  possession  of  the  truth,  in  discerning  the  truths  from  all 
base  counterfeits  and  in  clinging  to  the  truth  though  all  the  powers 
of  corruption,  ignorance  and  prejudice  conspire  against  you  to  enslave 
you. 

Learned  fools  and  walking  encyclopedias  have  not  true  liberty 
though  their  brains  be  stuffed  with  a  jumble  of  truth  and  falsehood. 
A  great  truth  may  be  put  in  the  mouth  of  a  parrot  or  on  the  disc  of  a 
phonograph,  but  they  know  not  where  they  receive  it. 

WAR 

I  can  compare  war  to  nothing  but  a  raging  fire,  which  burns  up 
liberty,  morality,  principle  and  in  short,  whatever  of  good  there  is  in 
the  world. 

A  fire,  first  kindled  by  Eve  when  she  plucked  envy,  hatred,  jealousy 
and  ignorance  from  the  Forbidden  Tree;  readily  incited  by  anger 
produced  on  the  sharp  edges  of  character,  and  leaves  nothing  but  its 
ashes,  wretchedness,  misery  and  vice  in  its  awful  track. 

Within  the  memory  of  most  of  us,  our  own  country  was  deluged 
in  civil  war.  And  when  will  she  recover  from  its  awful  effects? 
When  will  the  enormous  debt  contracted  during  the  war  be  paid? 
When  will  the  confidence  of  the  people  be  restored?  When  will  her 
morals  be  mended?  Or  the  loss  of  her  million  noble  sons,  slain  in 
battle,  requited? 

Before  the  war  crime  was  almost  unknown;  happiness,  business 
and  education  thrived;  nearly  every  man  earned  an  honest  living, 
and  enjoyed  domestic  peace. 

Now  how  is  the  scene  changed?  Men,  in  high  positions  of  trust, 
become  implicated  as  common  thieves;  bank  robberies  are  every 
day  occurrences,  and  murders  are  common. 

From  the  time  of  the  creation  we  find  no  nation  capable  of  sustain- 
ing itself  by  force  or  violence,  and  every  attempt  at  it  has  resulted 
in  corruption  and  degradation. 

We  behold  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Media,  Persia,  Lydia,  Ethiopia, 
Greece  and  Rome  rising  one  after  the  other  from  the  reeking  blood 
of  the  slain,  and  successively  tumbling  to  pieces. 

They  "lived  by  the  sword,  and  they  died  by  the  sword. " 

In  thinking  of  those  ancient  nations,  an  indistinct  mass  of  moss- 
grown  ruins  and  broken  temples  rise  in  our  minds;  but  the  human 
feelings  and  human  sympathies  of  man  must  have  been  the  same  as 
to-day,  and  the  horrors  of  war  none  the  less. 

It  is  strange  that  although  war  has  ever  been  the  most  deadly  foe 
to  civilization,  civilization  has  always  advanced  the  means  of  war. 


66  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

The  savage  murders  with  the  arrow,  the  spear  and  the  tomahawk; 
the  civilized  warrior  with  the  cannon,  the  rifle  and  the  sword.  The 
savage  has  his  King  Philip,  Tecumseh  and  Powhatan;  the  civilized 
soldier  has  his  Caesar,  Napoleon  and  Wellington;  the  barbarian  kills 
scores,  while  the  civilized  man  slays  thousands. 

It  is  well  for  the  philosopher  to  compare  the  number  thus  fallen, 
to  the  whole  human  race;  but  will  this  comparison  satisfy  the  blood 
that  calls  to  Heaven  for  vengeance?  The  peaceful  cities,  villages  and 
towns  laid  waste?  The  orphans  cries,  or  the  "wild  mother's  scream 
o'er  her  famishing  brood?"  Or  how  repay  the  poor  traveller  in 
this  valley  of  tears,  whose  existence  of  a  day  was  his  all? 

So  it  is  well  for  the  astronomer  to  compare  the  nothingness  of  this 
world  to  the  boundless  expanse  of  the  (remainder  lost) . 

OUGHT  THERE  BE  TWO  GREAT  POLITICAL  PARTIES 
IN  AMERICA? 

In  a  new  country  like  America,  founded  for  the  rights  and  freedom 
of  its  people,  there  must  necessarily  be  much  discussion  and  contro- 
versy in  the  attainment  of  those  principles  which  are  needful  for 
the  peoples'  welfare. 

Truth  and  wisdom  cannot  be  obtained  in  a  moment;  and  many 
forms  of  plausible  untruth  must  be  advanced,  before  the  reality  can 
be  obtained. 

And  on  the  other  side  it  might  be  strongly  maintained  that  party 
is  necessary  for  the  true  representation  of  the  different  views  of  a  great 
question,  and  for  the  fostering  of  activity  in  those  abstract  spheres. 

But  it  must  be  remembered  that  those  great  political  parties,  do 
not  pretend  to  search  for  the  truth,  nor  act  as  if  they  were  working 
for  the  good  of  all.  They  act  as  if  the  truth,  and  the  right  and  the 
end  had  already  arrived;  they  raise  aloft  their  principles  at  the 
beginning,  compressing  all  of  their  members  within  the  limits  of 
their  criterion,  like  Procrustes,  stretching  the  short  men,  and  chop- 
ping off  the  tall  ones;  and  that  standing  they  will  maintain  to  the  end, 
at  all  costs,  and  at  all  hazards,  though  they  wade  for  it  through  fraud 
and  corruption,  taking  every  possible  means,  fair  and  unfair,  against 
their  adversaries. 

Then,  in  the  first  place,  the  origin  of  the  party  must  be  in  disagree- 
ment, which  is  readily  sharpened  into  hatred;  discord  and  strife 
is  incited,  and  the  structure  of  the  whole  country  is  loosened  and 
disjointed  by  its  baneful  effects. 

The  government  of  those  parties  is  centered  in  a  few  individuals, 
who,  vulture-like,  profit  by  the  struggle  of  the  lions.  Instead  of 
being  a  benefit  to  the  country  in  enabling  the  people  to  ascertain 
the  truth,  in  regard  to  politicians  and  their  principles,  party  renders 
it  nearly  impossible  for  a  person  to  judge  which  is  in  the  right. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  67 

The  principles  of  the  majority  of  newspapers  are  outweighed  by 
the  feelings  of  party,  and  they  "shout  with  the  crowd";  the  speeches 
of  stump-orators  consist  in  the  denunciation  of  their  opponents; 
every  true  partisan  feels  himself  bound  to  denounce  the  opposite 
party,  as  often  writh  falsehood  as  with  trivial  truth  magnified,  while 
he  extols  his  own  party  to  the  skies.  Votes  are  bought  and  sold; 
there  is  fraud  at  the  polls  necessitating  Potter  committees;  the  very 
quintessence  of  Republican  liberty,  the  free  votes  of  the  people,  are 
gravely  infringed  upon. 

After  such  fraud  and  tyranny  at  the  mere  election,  what  can  we 
expect  when  one  party  predominates?  The  fraud  and  deception 
of  persons,  in  high  positions,  for  a  few  years  past,  will  fully  answer  the 
question. 

Thus  it  goes  on,  each  succeeding  year  only  intensifying  the  dis- 
gusting and  horrible  scenes  of  the  preceding.  When  a  party  is  estab- 
lished, its  leading  principle  is,  of  course,  wholly  for  its  own  good; 
its  birth  was  caused  by  animosity  to  all  others,  and  that  animosity 
is  only  augmented,  and  rendered  more  virulent  by  time.  When 
that  party  gains  the  ascendency  how  can  its  selfish  principles  be  a 
benefit  to  the  whole  nation? 

Many  an  experiment  has  proved  that  they  cannot. 

During  its  season  of  power,  each  party  rules  despotically;  and,  as 
that  power  is  controlled  by  a  few  persons,  it  gives  the  government 
of  the  country  a  deep  cast  of  monarchy. 

So  much  for  the  principle  of  party. 

Now  how  does  it  affect  the  strength  and  safety  of  the  country? 
Which  is  strength,  union  or  discord? 

A  father  gave  his  son  a  bundle  of  sticks,  bound  together,  telling 
him  to  break  them,  but  the  youth  could  not  bend  them.  The  father 
then  (remainder  lost). 


AD  QUEM  FINEM? 

Graduation  essay,  North  Brookfield,  Mass.,  June,  1880 

As  from  century  to  century,  generation  after  generation  moves, 
toils,  struggles,  presses  onward  with  ever  increasing  speed  whilst 
the  light  of  day  illumines  their  path,  and  dark  night  affords  shelter 
for  hidden  schemes,  it  may  well  be  asked:  Why  this  ceaseless  motion? 
What  seek  heroes  and  beggars,  warlike  kingdoms  and  commercial 
republics?  Why  surge  those  dark  masses  through  the  channels  of 
time?  Ad  quern  finem? 

Ask  them  one  by  one,  as  they  come  into  the  light  of  the  present, 
and  each  and  every  one  will  answer  that  he  works,  he  strives,  he 
strains,  for  the  gratification  of  some  wish,  some  longing;  to  meet 


68  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the  demands  of  body  and  soul;  for  the  accomplishment  of  some 
happiness. 

For  every  act  that  man  performs,  whether  good  or  bad,  interested 
or  disinterested,  so-called,  must  come  from  the  desire  to  gratify  some 
quality  of  himself  that  urges  him  to  the  act.  Whether  the  mariner's 
love  of  novelty  and  adventure,  the  glutton's  love  of  his  stomach, 
the  miser's  greed  for  gold,  the  politician's  love  of  honor,  the  states- 
man's fidelity  to  principle,  the  good  man's  benevolence  or  the  mis- 
sionary's thirst  for  souls;  all  come  from  the  same  prime  cause,  from 
hidden  springs  within.  "  0  bonheur!  fin  de  noire  etre,  pour  toi  nous 
rivons,  pour  toi  nous  osons  mourir. " 

Then  if  this  is  the  goal  of  human  wishes,  and  the  object  of  desires, 
why  is  it  not  always  attained?  Whence  come  those  tears,  those 
cries  of  agony  and  woe,  from  the  eyes  of  the  present  and  the  heart 
of  the  past,  that  shock  the  ears  of  listening  humanity?  Surely  they 
come  not  from  the  fullness  of  content,  not  from  the  conjunction  of 
wishes  and  their  objects,  their  end.  What  is  this  end,  and  why  so 
seldom  obtained? 

As  man  wakes  up  to  the  consciousness  of  life  and  being,  with  space 
above  and  beneath  him,  time  around  him  and  eternity  before  him, 
whither  will  he  turn,  what  course  pursue,  what  guidance  follow? 
To  be  able  to  answer  those  questions,  he  must  be  a  sensible  being, 
able  to  distinguish  between  greatness  and  smallness,  relatively  at 
least,  if  not  absolutely,  of  something  and  nothing,  of  the  gratification 
of  the  highest  qualities  of  his  being  and  the  lowest,  or  yet  of  that  which 
has  no  existence,  save  in  fancy. 

In  order  to  do  this  it  is  evident  that  he  must  have  the  assistance, 
the  harmonious  action  and  co-operation  of  all  the  faculties  of  his 
soul.  As  Wordsworth  says:  "There  lies  no  faculty  within  us  that 
the  soul  can  spare."  And  so  Plato  taught:  "Education  consists 
in  the  training  of  all  the  faculties  of  the  being." 

For  everyone  that  observes  the  actions  of  the  world  must  notice, 
or  at  least  experience,  the  operation  of  two  great  forces  upon  it,  ever 
acting  upon  men,  by  appealing  to  their  wants,  desires  and  emotions. 

One  which  promises  immediate  pleasure,  but  confusing,  seductive, 
gaudy,  loud-boasting  and  destroying.  The  other  slow,  but  calm, 
clear,  enduring;  seldom  transporting,  but  never  failing;  the  one  like 
small  vessels  of  filthy  desires,  quickly  filled  in  disgust;  the  other  like 
the  abyss  of  time  which  is  never  full. 

Those  are  the  two  courses  that  spread  out  before  man;  those  are 
the  voices  that  appeal  to  him.  And  how  can  he  determine  which 
to  heed?  For  to  follow  a  lofty  principle,  to  steadfastly  pursue  noble 
ends,  through  a  world  of  fears  and  duties  beset  by  fawning  pleasures, 
to  defer  present  needs,  hopes  and  wishes,  to  overleap  the  present 
and  to  continue  to  listen  to  the  calm  steady  voice  of  the  future 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  69 

amidst  the  roaring  voices  of  confusion,  requires  not  only  a  cul- 
tivated judgment,  but  a  strong  moral  force,  a  stern  character  in  the 
execution. 

But  thus  it  must  be  if  the  end  of  man's  existence  is  worth  obtaining; 
for  no  permanent  good,  or  worthy  object  has  ever  been  obtained 
without  sacrifice  and  toil.  Low,  base  and  unworthy  desires  must  be 
sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  a  holier  devotion.  But  days  and  years  and 
ages  have  flown  away,  and  misery  has  not  yet  departed  from  the 
earth. 

How  can  mortals  be  freed  from  suffering?  If  misery  be  not  a 
pleasure  to  man,  how  may  happiness  be  obtained  for  him?  It  is 
obvious  that  it  must  be  the  result  of  union  and  of  law;  not  of  separa- 
tion, disintegration  and  dissolution. 

If  there  is  a  condition  productive  of  happiness,  there  must  be  a 
force  to  preserve  that  condition.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  all 
men  can  be  equally  strong,  vigilant  and  active  in  the  execution  of 
what  they  know  to  be  right.  A  slowness  to  action,  a  clouded  un- 
derstanding, a  timid  will  and  a  failing  resolution,  it  is  the  lot  of  com- 
mon mortals  to  possess. 

Therefore  the  apostle  says,  "Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  higher 
powers,  for  there  is  no  power  but  from  God. "  It  is  authority  alone 
that  can  to  any  degree  obtain  this  condition.  It  is  the  subordination 
of  the  inferior  to  the  superior;  the  spur  of  duty  and  the  represser  of 
rashness.  It  is  the  forcing  of  electricity  into  the  telegraph;  the 
power  of  steam  into  the  engine;  the  difference  between  a  mob  and 
an  army;  the  separation  of  utility  from  chaos. 

And  hence,  our  government,  for  the  preservation  of  order  in  the 
physical  world;  our  schools,  for  the  training  of  the  faculties  of  the 
nation's  mind;  and  our  churches,  for  teaching  the  highest  faculties 
of  man's  being  to  reverence  the  Center  of  order  and  love.  But, 
that  an  intellectual  result  be  obtained  or  godliness  be  taught,  it  is 
necessary  that  man  have  the  seeds  of  an  intellectual  and  holy  ideal. 
The  acorn  must  be  cognizant  of  the  oak.  Whence  'tis  evident  that 
the  desire  of  man's  being  is  for  life,  for  the  construction  of  its  powers 
and  development  toward  the  fullness  of  its  aspirations.  Even 
thought  from  its  very  nature,  from  its  first  awakening,  is  but  the 
crystallization  of  construction,  of  formation  and  of  law.  It  is  the 
building-up  of  unity,  the  arrangement  of  order  in  apparent  chaos. 
And  it  is  not  less  so  in  the  moral  order.  It  is  thus  with  the  sense  of 
duty,  of  loyalty,  of  patriotism,  and,  above  all,  of  piety.  Difficulties 
may  press  upon  one,  adversity  may  stun,  friends  may  desert  and 
calamities  afflict,  but  if  they  are  withstood  there  must  be  some  gleam 
of  light  from  within,  some  inward  consciousness  of  better  beyond, 
of  some  good  to  come,  some  secret  persuasion  of  promises  for  future 
fulfillment.  And  this  active  principle,  this  inward  light,  this  fresh- 


70  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

ness  of  the  heart  and  buoyancy  of  the  soul,  this  living  something  that 
pours  sunshine  through  the  darkened  portals  of  the  intellect,  phi- 
losophers call  hope,  and  Christians,  faith.  And  if  this  fails  a  man, 
the  unknown  spring  of  life  that  has  thus  far  urged  him  onward  in 
his  career,  the  power  that  has  impelled  him  forward,  will  turn  back 
upon  itself,  jump  the  boundaries  of  fear,  and  leap  into  the  gulf  of 
desperation.  The  last  grasp  has  escaped  him  hanging  over  a  preci- 
pice, the  last  ray  of  light  has  faded  from  the  drowning  man,  his 
sun  has  set  forever,  the  dark  waves  swallow  him  up;  then  follows 
despair,  death,  destruction,  suicidal  grave. 

Infidelity,  in  its  principles  and  in  its  practice,  is  a  remover  of  faith, 
a  destroyer  of  hope,  an  abettor  of  destruction. 

This  is  the  picture  of  wrong:  a  hideous  fiend  that  delights  in 
gloom  and  darkness,  which  clothes  itself  in  the  pleasing  forms  of 
human  frailties  so  as  not  to  terrify  its  victims  by  its  naked  horror, 
which  enters  into  a  human  soul  through  the  portals  of  negligence 
or  of  passion,  when  the  faculties  are  so  little  or  so  much  aroused  as 
not  to  perceive  it;  which  can  continue  its  habitation  only  by  seducing 
and  blinding  the  soul's  best  faculties,  by  setting  nature  at  war  with 
nature,  whose  infuriated  victim  dares  not  listen  to  his  thoughts, 
to  his  accusing  conscience,  and  his  outraged  sense  of  right,  who  strives 
to  fill  the  aching  void  with  intoxication,  debauchery  and  crime;  a 
monster  that  leads  to  diabolical  destruction,  in  murderous  brawls, 
in  hellish  dens  of  sin  and  shame;  in  myriads  of  desolated  homes; 
in  rivers  of  blood  from  famine,  war  and  intemperance.  For  what 
is  taken  from  the  highest  laws  of  nature,  the  soul  shall  mourn  for 
in  blood-red  tears  of  woe.  But  is  it  in  wrong  that  a  person  would 
seek  the  end  of  his  being  and  the  fulness  of  his  soul,  when  its  very 
existence  depends  upon  their  separation  and  perversion,  and  in  mock- 
ing their  highest  wants  and  desires?  No,  wrong  is  not  to  be  flattered 
nor  pampered  nor  smiled  upon;  but  is  to  be  hated  with  an  undying 
hate,  whilst,  like  a  maelstrom,  it  is  sucking  the  goodness,  holiness 
and  happiness  of  the  land  into  the  horrid  depths  of  crime  and  agony. 
And  how  could  men,  even  if  they  had  no  other  light  to  guide  them 
than  their  own  intellect,  as  they  swing  suspended  by  the  slender 
thread  of  life  in  the  abyss  of  eternity,  how  can  they  suffer  themselves 
to  fall  howling  into  its  dark  and  trackless  depths,  with  the  brand  of 
sin,  destruction  and  confusion  burned  into  their  very  souls?  Woe 
unto  that  individual  whom  crime  has  overpowered,  for  his  life  is  a 
failure;  woe  unto  that  nation,  that  collection  of  individuals,  that 
tolerate  it,  for  it  has  within  it  the  fermenting  germs  of  strife,  disorder 
and  revolution  which  will  eventually  rend  it  to  atoms.  Existence, 
even,  depends  upon  law  and  order  founded  upon  love  and  increases 
according  to  their  harmonious  conjunction.  No  matter  how  wicked- 
ness may  seem  to  prosper  and  fraud  be  triumphant,  virtue  and  good- 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  71 

ness  are  as  enduring  as  human  life,  at  least.  For  there  must  still 
exist  some  spark  of  right,  of  law  and  life,  in  the  lowest  degradation 
to  perceive  the  horror  of  wrong,  for  dull  stagnant  death  perceives  not 
the  horror  of  itself  in  its  empty  void.  It  is  a  capability  for  a  happiness 
that  renders  misery  possible.  And,  the  huge  clouds  of  the  electrified 
wraths  of  perverted  justice,  thundering  across  the  ages  have  lighted 
up  the  awful  splendor  of  right  in  weird  grandeur,  have  shaken  the 
world  in  fury;  and  we  are  enjoying  the  comparative  calm  that  suc- 
ceeds the  storms  of  a  thousand  years;  and  well  be  it,  if  profit  be  taken 
from  the  lessons  they  teach.  Thus,  even  in  our  weak  nature  that  a 
universal  tradition  pronounces "  degraded,  "every  human  being  has  at 
least  the  outline  of  a  noble  ideal,  the  stamp  of  a  divine  seal  impressed 
upon  him.  Even  the  most  degraded  human  creature  weighed  down 
with  the  accumulated  wickedness  of  ancestry,  and  with  the  dust 
and  cinders  that  life  has  heaped  upon  him,  yet,  deep  beneath  them, 
glow  the  smoldering  coals  of  a  better  nature.  Those  tender  and  holy 
emotions  that  cannot  bear  the  rude  contact  with  sin,  seek  refuge  in 
the  deepest  recesses  of  the  heart  whence  death  alone  can  drive  them; 
and  out  of  the  most  arid  spirit  a  dram  of  misery  may  be  squeezed. 
From  out  the  heart  of  the  frozen  zone,  midst  howling  winds,  the 
fierce  savage  reverences  his  rude  ideal;  from  the  wilderness,  the  fight 
and  death-dance,  the  wild  Indian  calls  upon  the  Great  Spirit;  in 
the  scorching  heat  of  the  fierce  tropics  the  Negro  in  prostrating 
himself  before  the  idols  demonstrates,  his  higher  aspirations;  and 
in  our  own  temperate  zone,  where  the  spirit  is  less  obscured  with 
the  thick  and  clotted  matter  of  corrupted  sense,  the  soul  shines 
forth  in  a  purer  light  and  worships  its  maker  with  a  holier  devotion. 
Thus,  the  faculties  of  man  are  developed  with  the  scale  of  humanity, 
they  ascend,  enlarge,  brighten  and  radiate  into  forms  of  beauty, 
music,  harmony,  poetry,  and  eloquence.  Heroic  and  noble  deeds 
animate  for  all  time;  noble  thoughts  dart  full-armed  from  mind  to 
mind.  A  Demosthenes  at  Greece,  a. Cicero  at  Rome,  a  Patrick 
Henry  in  America  thrill  noble  faculties  of  man,  by  exhibiting  Right 
in  all  its  irresistible  strength  and  glorious  luster;  higher  proofs  of 
man's  nobility  in  the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  a  licentious, 
pagan  world;  and  then,  finally,  the  grand  culmination  in  the 
martyrs  who  limit  happiness  to  neither  space  nor  time  and  in  the 
pangs  of  torment  were  comforted  with  the  quintescence  of  sublimity. 
So  it  is,  as  Daniel  Webster  termed  it,  action,  noble,  sublime,  god-like 
action,  and  the  combination  of  his  forces  that  will  obtain  for  man 
his  end.  It  is  not  when  dullness,  sluggishness,  semi-death  subdue 
his  best  impulses;  but  it  is  when  every  faculty  of  his  being  is  wrought 
up  to  its  highest  perfection,  sparkling,  glowing  in  primeval  innocence 
and  grandeur,  when  the  heart  illumines  the  intellect  and  the  intellect 
guides  the  heart;  when  the  qualities  of  the  mind,  the  being,  the 


72  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

soul,  look  into,  shine  upon  and  unite  with  one  another;  it  is  then, 
in  the  exercise  of  those  god-like  faculties,  the  longings  of  the  soul 
extending  from  the  cradle  are  but  augmented  at  the  beginning  of  the 
grave;  and  in  that  intellect  that  embraces  in  its  grasp  the  earth  and 
skies,  even  casting  a  ruddy  gleam  into  eternity  by  comprehending 
the  incomprehensibility  of  its  immensity;  it  is  in  the  exercise  of  those 
that  man  catches  a  glimpse  of  that  happy  state  from  which  he  has 
fallen  and  of  the  ad  finem  to  which  he  is  ascending;  and  the  nearer  he 
approaches  that  end  the  brighter  it  appears.  When  on  the  eve  of 
life  he  recalls  the  memory  of  good  deeds  in  years  gone  by,  as  the 
mists  of  Death  gather  more  thickly  over  his  horizon,  as  he  sees  cher- 
ished objects,  friends  and  foes  alike  vanish,  as  he  gazes  upon  the 
blue  sky  stretching  out  into  the  immensity  of  forever  and  ever, 
what  now  will  satisfy  the  yearnings  of  his  soul?  Is  it  science  or 
knowledge  or  philosophy?  No.no!  Those  stand  back  aghast  before 
the  stern  reality  of  the  tomb.  Faith,  faith,  alone,  remains  to  him, 
faith  in  the  Immutable,  whose  pleasures  vibrate  through  all  eternity, 
enthroned  in  the  heavenly  azure  above  the  "crash  of  matter  and 
the  wreck  of  worlds. " 


JAMES   MAHONEY 
WHEN  HE  GRADUATED  FROM  AMHERST,  1884 


CHAPTER  IV 

"  Oh,  the  bells  of  old  Amherst!    Long  may  they  be  telling 
Of  Amherst,  fair  Amherst,  and  old  Eighty-four. " 

"No  friends  are  like  the  old,  old  friends, — 
The  men  of  Eighty-four. " 

"  'Tis  sweet,  as  year  by  year  we  lose 
Friends  out  of  sight,  in  faith  to  muse 
How  grows  in  Paradise  our  store. " 

Never  does  a  man  portray  his  own  character  more  vividly  than  in 
his  manner  of  portraying  another. 

—  Titan. 

The  only  theory  that  will  adequately  explain  our  twenty-eight  years 
of  steady  convocation  is  the  theory  of  Friendship  founded  on  Mutual 
Fellowship.  Here  we  meet  as  friends  and  brothers,  finding  solace  in 
each  others  eyes,  strength  in  each  others  hands,  courage  in  a  union  of 
hearts.  Bound  together  by  a  higher  bond  than  that  of  appetite  or  stale 
custom.  Drawn  more  closely  by  our  losses  than  by  our  gains.  The  loud 
bespeaks  the  open  heart,  the  serious  word  speaks  the  thoughtful  mind, 
owing  allegiance  to  our  college  and  loyalty  to  our  ideals  of  life. 

— James  Mahoney. 

A  paean  high  for  '84! 
A  paean  strong  and  high! 

Our  class  shall  live  forevermore! 
Our  class  shall  never  die! 

— James  Mahoney. 

DAYS  AT  AMHERST 

James  Mahoney  entered  Amherst  in  September,  1880,  as  a  fresh- 
man in  the  Class  of  '84. 

The  transition  from  preparatory  school  to  college  is  for  all  a  notable 
one.  For  one  coming  from  a  large  school  like  Phillips  Academy, 
Andover,  where  there  is  an  ample  corps  of  instructors  and  a  large 
body  of  students  coming  from  many  sections  of  the  country,  the  most 
noticeable  change  is  in  the  larger  degree  of  freedom  given.  For 
those  coming  from  a  small  country  high  school  entrance  into  college 


74  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

life  is  a  never  to  be  forgotten  epoch,  as  when  the  butterfly  leaves  its 
chrysalis  home  and  on  spreading  wings  revels  in  the  sunlight. 

In  the  North  Brookfield  high  school  from  which  Mahoney  came 
there  was  the  usual  small  corps  of  teachers  and  a  body  of  students 
coming  from  the  immediate  vicinity.  At  Amherst  there  was,  for 
those  days,  a  large  and  scholarly  faculty  and  a  student  constituency 
drawn  from  most  sections  of  this  country  and  from  some  foreign 
countries. 

The  most  obvious  criticisms  to  be  made  on  the  faculty  were  these: 
Without  exception  they  were  graduates  of  one  college,  Amherst, 
and  there  resulted  an  inevitable  narrowness  of  view;  and  in  the 
second  place  the  president  and  all  but  two  or  three  of  the  faculty 
were  adherents  of  one  church,  the  Congregationalist,  and  Truth  was 
viewed  pretty  much  from  one  angle.  But  they  were  scholarly,  self- 
sacrificing,  and  sympathetic,  and  a  student  could  hardly  have  found 
their  peers,  intellectually  and  morally,  in  any  other  college  in  the 
land. 

That  period,  '80-'84,  is  not  so  very  remote, — measured  in  years 
it  is  a  part  of  modern  history.  But  as  regards  scientific  and  phi- 
losophic thought  it  seems  a  part  of  medieval  times.  The  theory  of 
evolution,  now  as  generally  accepted  as  the  theory  of  gravitation, 
was  fighting  for  recognition,  and  like  the  theory  of  gravitation  in 
Newton's  time  was  regarded  by  many  as  irreligious.  President 
Seelye  was  distinctly  unfriendly  to  it,  but  Professor  John  M.  Tyler, 
then  one  of  the  youngest  of  the  faculty,  gave  a  course  of  lectures 
setting  forth  the  evidence  for  the  theory,  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
with  characteristic  boldness,  in  a  series  of  sermons  on  "Evolution 
and  Religion"  was  interpreting  the  great  truths  of  Christianity  in 
the  light  of  evolution. 

If  in  the  Class  of  '84,  of  which  Mahoney  found  himself  a  member, 
there  were  imperfections,  and  the  faculty  seemed  to  think  that  there 
were,  narrowness  and  uniformity  of  view  were  not  conspicuous. 
There  were  Roman  Catholics,  Episcopalians,  Congregationalists, 
Presbyterians,  and  one  of  the  the  manliest  of  them  all,  Frank  Cooper, 
called  himself  an  Agnostic.  There  were  those  who  held  that  studies 
should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere  seriously  with  one's  college  course, 
and  who  never  failed  to  take  their  "tenth,"  the  full  number  of 
allowed  absences.  For  these  men  any  cerebral  activity  that  secured 
a  "3"  in  any  course  when  "2"  was  the  passing  mark  was  misspent 
energy,  a  thing  for  which  they  should  offer  apology  to  their  comrades. 

There  were  others  who  believed  that  the  prime  object  of  coming 
to  college  was  to  study,  to  meditate,  to  gain  mastery  over  difficult 
subjects,  to  have  spiritual  fellowship  with  Socrates,  St.  Paul,  Galileo, 
Shakespeare,  Kant,  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  gain  thereby  inspiration  as 
well  as  information,  and  so  grow  in  moral  and  intellectual  stature; 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  75 

to  gain  ideals  that  should  be  guiding  stars  in  the  grand  enterprise 
of  giving  a  life  to  the  world. 

To  this  latter  class  James  Mahoney  belonged.  To  him  time  was 
precious  coin  that  should  not  be  spent  in  vain.  When  he  entered 
Amherst  he  had  had  in  all  seven  years  of  schooling  while  the  rest  of 
us  had  had  eleven  or  more.  Small  wonder  is  it  that  at  the  end  of 
freshman  year  he  was  awarded  one  of  the  two  Topping  prizes.  These 
prizes,  each  of  twenty-five  dollars  in  gold,  were  for  the  two  members 
of  the  freshman  class  who  showed  the  greatest  improvement  in  the 
work  of  the  year. 

In  those  days  the  freshmen  were  ordinarily  taught  by  young  in- 
structors while  the  professors  taught  the  upper  classes.  It  happened 
that  we  of  '84  in  freshman  year  had  three  instructors  who  were  new 
recruits  on  the  Amherst  faculty,  Stanton  Coit,  William  L.  Cowles 
and  Charles  E.  Garman.  The  last  named  was  a  prince  among 
teachers,  clear,  patient,  and  sympathetic,  and  '84  was  blessed  above 
all  classes  in  having  that  man  as  instructor  in  mathematics  in  fresh- 
man year  and  as  instructor  in  philosophy  when  we  were  seniors. 
Mr.  Cowles,  a  rare  combination  of  gentleness  and  power,  is  now  the 
honored  head  of  the  Latin  department  at  Amherst.  Mr.  Coit  has 
rendered  eminent  service  in  the  ethical  culture  movement  and  has 
been  a  ministering  angel  to  the  poor  of  New  York  City  and  London. 
In  Greek  two  sections  of  the  class  were  taught  by  Levi  H.  Elwell,  a 
man  of  adamant  Puritan  character  and  profound  scholarship,  and 
the  "rank  division"  men  were  under  Professor  Mather,  a  master  of 
expression  and  a  lover  of  the  beautiful  in  literature  and  art.  Mahoney 
needless  to  say,  was  in  Professor  Mather's  division  and  was  the  pet 
pupil.  I  can  recall  to-day  the  elegance  of  his  translations,  especially 
in  rendering  the  sublime  thoughts  of  "Medea"  and  of  "Prometheus 
Bound." 

He  received  the  first  prize  in  Greek  in  freshman  year,  and  was 
later  awarded  the  Hutchins  Greek  prize  in  junior  year. 

During  freshman  year  Mahoney  roomed  in  East  College.  That 
building,  a  plain  factory-like  structure,  used  to  stand  at  the  east  end 
of  the  splendid  double  row  of  maples  which  extends  from  the  Chapel 
toward  the  College  Church.  Altho  the  building  itself  was  unat- 
tractive the  view  which  it  commanded  was  glorious.  No  wonder 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  remarked  in  his  speech  at  our  '84  Commence- 
ment dinner,  "If  the  Garden  of  Eden  had  not  been  located  where  it 
was  it  would  have  been  located  at  Amherst.  In  that  case  Adam 
never  would  have  sinned  and  we  would  have  been  saved  a  heap  of 
theology."  The  azure  hills  of  Pelham  lay  three  miles  to  the  east; 
Leverett  and  Shutesbury  could  be  seen  to  the  north,  and  Belchertown 
with  its  commanding  sentinel  position  formed  the  southeastern 
horizon,  Norwottuch  and  the  other  mountains  of  the  Holyoke  range 


76  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

were  outlined  against  the  southern  sky.  Especially  in  the  fall  when 
the  maples  on  the  mountains  were  clad  in  their  myriad  colors  the 
outlook  from  East  College  was  enough  to  compensate  for  the  primi- 
tiveness  of  the  structure. 

Mahoney's  roommate  was  Baldridge,  a  quiet  fair-haired  youth, 
keen  in  intellect  and  as  delicately  built  as  a  fawn.  Among  those 
occupying  rooms  under  the  same  roof  were  Loftus,  later  to  be  our 
Hyde  prize  orator  and  a  power  in  the  mining  world;  Hatheway,  the 
lawyer-to-be  and  magnate  in  business;  Hayes,  the  future  railroad 
executive;  Rockwood,  now  head  of  the  department  of  chemistry 
in  Iowa  State  University;  Milan,  now  Dr.  Milan  of  Providence,  and 
Dr.  Learoyd  of  Taunton.  Old  East  College,  plebeian  and  plain 
tho  it  was,  sheltered  that  year  more  of  the  brain  and  heart  of  '84 
than  any  other  building  in  Amherst. 

Owing  to  the  sad  and  untimely  death  of  Baldridge,  sophomore 
year  found  him  in  South  College  rooming  with  Joe  Heavens,  a  man 
of  abounding  good-nature  and  always  ready  for  fun.  Now  he  is  a 
shining  light  in  the  educational  world.  Mahoney's  roommate  in 
junior  year  was  Sherman,  '85,  whom  he  had  known  in  the  North 
Brookfield  high  school.  Senior  year  he  roomed  alone  in  the  home  of 
Mr.  Bartlett. 

In  the  Amherst  days  Mahoney,  tho  by  no  means  lacking  in  social 
qualities,  was  intimately  acquainted  with  but  few  of  his  classmates, 
— our  lives  touched  his  chiefly  in  the  classroom.  The  reasons  for  this 
were  not  difficult  to  find.  In  the  first  place  it  was  his  inflexible 
rule  to  place  duty  before  pleasure,  and  after  his  work  was  thoroly 
done  there  was  scant  time  for  social  intercourse.  From  participation 
in  athletic  sports  he  was  barred  by  lameness.  Those  days  were  days 
of  intense  class  rivalry  and  physical  conflict,  and  the  Classes  of  '83 
and  '85,  considerably  outnumbering  our  own,  developed  our  militant 
qualities,  and  physical  prowess  was  at  a  premium.  Then  when  battles 
were  over  the  exuberant  spirit  of  '84  found  vent  in  fun  and  student 
pranks.  Mahoney  was  by  nature  meditative  and  the  big  questions 
of  religion  and  philosophy  interested  him  more  than  the  question 
what  punishment  should  be  meted  out  to  '83  for  shaving  off  Frank 
Williams'  whiskers.  Many  of  us,  who  later  found  in  him  a  spirit 
kindred  to  our  own,  would  have  made  that  discovery  earlier  and 
gravitated  toward  him  had  not  the  stress  of  poverty  prevented. 
When  a  lad — I  am  thinking  of  myself  now — earns  money  for  college 
expenses  by  sawing  cord  wood  for  fifty  cents  per  cut,  and  by  husking 
corn  for  four  cents  a  bushel,  there  is  scant  time  for  the  cultivation 
of  friendships.  And  the  production  of  an  intimate  friendship,  like 
the  production  of  any  fine  fruit  or  flower,  requires  time  for  cultiva- 
tion. In  later  years  we  saw  that  he  regarded  friendship  as  a  thing  of 
highest  spiritual  value  and  his  friendship  was  generously  given  to 
young  and  old. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  77 

As  a  student  Mahoney  was  serious,  almost  solemn,  in  manner, 
and  his  classmates  little  suspected  the  wealth  of  wit  and  kindly 
humor  that  later  years  revealed.  I  fancy  that  most  of  us  were 
totally  ignorant  of  this  side  of  his  nature  until  our  never-to-be-for- 
gotten class  reunion  at  Amherst  in  1909.  On  the  last  evening  of 
the  reunion  we  had  our  concluding  "family  gathering"  at  our  head- 
quarters, the  Perry.  After  an  exhibition  of  lantern  slides  which 
took  us  back  to  student  days  Mahoney  started  the  ball  rolling  by 
making  a  speech  that  filled  us  with  astonishment  and  delight.  Such 
flashing  wit,  such  delicate  humor,  such  playful  allusions  to  our  pecu- 
liarities! Then  Dakin  as  master  of  ceremonies  scintillated  better 
than  his  best.  Alvord  and  Goodwin  and  others  of  our  star  speakers 
outdid  themselves,  and  it  was  two  hours  after  midnight  when  the 
display  of  oratorical  fireworks  ceased.  It  was  remarked  by  many 
that  such  a  sustained  series  of  brilliant  speeches  they  had  never 
before  listened  to,  and  it  was  Jim  Mahoney  who  had  set  the  pace. 

His  excellence  in  Greek  has  already  been  alluded  to,  and  with  Tyler, 
Mather,  and  Elwell  as  teachers  he  was  able  to  drink  long  and  deep 
at  the  fountains  of  Hellenic  culture.  Latin  he  did  not  need  to 
translate,  he  read  it  with  consummate  ease.  It  is  said  that  he  was 
familiar  with  the  writings  of  Origen  and  Aquinas  and  would  freely 
quote  from  them.  The  Novum  Organum  of  Bacon  he  read  in  the 
original.  He  was  familiar  with  the  writings  of  Cardinal  Wiseman  and 
his  keen  mind  was  thrilled  by  the  exquisite  beauty  and  irresistible 
force  of  Newman  whose  "Apologia  pro  Vit  Sus"  he  justly  regarded 
as  a  masterpiece. 

His  felicity  in  English  verse  is  illustrated  by  the  following  lines, 
written  in  freshman  year,  and  rescued  from  oblivion  by  his  friend 
Loftus,  then  an  editor  of  the  "  Student. " 

AD  AMARYLLEM 

(After  Virgil) 

Approach,  with  empty  basket  in  your  hand, 
O  gatherer  of  the  vintage,  nut  brown  maid, 
And  pluck  the  purple  grape  with  me  to-day; 
Inviting,  yet  untouched,  the  vineyards  stand, 
The  grapes  are  drooping,  cooling  in  the  shade, 
The  vine  leaves  rustle,  rustle,  as  they  sway. 

Approach,  O  maiden,  with  a  modest  smile, 
And  gently  press  the  drooping  leaf  aside, 
To  pluck  the  cluster  hidden  underneath; 
And  muse  on  love,  if  love  be  sweet,  the  while; 
Then  will  I  twine  the  vine  leaves  at  your  side, 
And  deck  your  flowing  tresses  with  a  wreath. 

Approach,  O  artless  maiden,  sun-embrowned, 
And  pluck  with  me  the  clusters  on  the  vine, 


78  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

And  let  the  vine-clad  hills  with  laughter  ring. 
Till  hill  and  wood  shall  echo  back  the  sound. 
We'll  sing  anew  the  praises  of  the  wine, 
Forgetful  of  the  vintage  while  we  sing. 

At  the  twenty-fifth  '84  reunion  at  Amherst  in  1909  he  read  the 
class  poem,  a  production  notable  for  depth  of  thought  and  feeling. 

In  those  days  analytic  geometry  was  a  required  subject,  and  no 
'84  man  will  ever  forget  the  joy  manifested  when  we  celebrated  by  a 
midnight  parade,  bonfire,  and  subsequent  "Battle  of  the  Hose" 
with  '85  the  completion  of  the  required  mathematical  course.  Along 
with  Tufts,  Gill,  and  a  few  others  mathematically  gifted,  Mahoney 
pursued  the  study  of  the  higher  mathematics  under  Professor  William 
C.  Esty,  as  fine  and  beautiful  a  soul  as  ever  graced  the  Amherst 
faculty.  Later  he  studied  physics  and  astronomy  and  was  awarded 
the  Porter  prize  for  excellence  in  those  subjects. 

Mahoney 's  work  was  everywhere  of  the  highest  grade.  To  him 
thoro  work  was  a  part  of  religion.  To  him,  as  to  the  monks  of  old, 
"labore  est  orare."  Looseness  in  thinking  was  irreligious — like 
looseness  in  morals.  Subjects  large  and  difficult  and  profound 
interested  him  as  big  game  interests  the  hunter.  So  it  happened 
that  the  most  potent  stimulus  to  his  intellectual  life  came  in  senior 
year  in  the  course  in  philosophy  and  ethics  conducted  by  President 
Seelye  and  Professor  Carman. 

One  of  the  many  ways  in  which  President  Seelye  manifested  his 
esteem  for  Mahoney  was  by  entrusting  to  him  the  instruction  of  a 
daughter  in  her  college  preparation  in  Greek.  On  one  occasion  when 
Mahoney  was  enjoying  a  visit  from  a  sister  she  met  President  Seelye, 
and  after  the  usual  formalities  he  said  to  her:  "I  congratulate  you 
on  having  such  a  brother;  he  has  but  one  imperfection  and  that  is  a 
physical  one. " 

Both  of  these  teachers  indicated  their  opinion  of  Mahoney's 
attainments  by  awarding  him  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  prize  for  excellence 
in  the  philosophical  studies  of  senior  year.  Seelye,  a  man  of  dom- 
inant personality,  had  been  a  famous  teacher  of  philosophy  for  a 
generation,  and  to  him  Mahoney  was  devoted.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  President's  life,  in  those  days  when  in  response  to  inquiries 
about  his  health  he  would  say,  "I  am  quite  well,  but  I  live  in  a 
wretched  tenement,"  Mahoney  called  on  him  at  Amherst.  Since 
they  had  not  met  for  a  long  time  the  visitor  said:  "I  don't  suppose 
that  you  remember  me,  President  Seelye."  The  President  replied: 
"I  remember  you  with  affection  and  esteem."  Altho  extremely 
feeble  he  went  to  the  door  as  his  guest  was  leaving. 

Garman  was  just  entering  his  brilliant  career,  and  by  his  genius 
as  thinker  and  teacher,  and  by  his  never  failing  sympathy,  earned 
immortality  in  the  affections  of  every  man  of  '84.  To  him  Mahoney 
makes  reference  in  his  class-poem  at  our  twenty -fifth  reunion : 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  79 

"And  Look! 

In  Walker  Hall  through  the  windows  streamed 
The  sunshine  o'er  eager  faces,  all  with  earnest 
Eyes  as  falls  the  sunshine  on  the  master 
At  his  desk,  of  swarthy  hue,  and  dark  and 
Gleaming  eye,  his  voice  and  mind 
And  sentence,  all,  as  crystal  clear, 
As  with  charmed  words  he  spoke  of 
Mind  and  soul;  of  matter  and  of  God." 

With  clearness  in  thinking  Garman  possessed  a  wonderful  gift 
of  exposition.  We  studied  Hickok's  Empirical  Psychology  and 
Hickok's  Moral  Science,  and  Hickok  was  justly  celebrated  as  "the 
deepest  down  diving,  the  longest  down  staying,  and  the  most  mud 
upbringing"  philosopher  of  his  day.  From  Hickok  alone  we  could 
have  derived  little  profit — whatever  clear  ideas  we  had  would  probably 
have  been  dulled  in  outline;  but  with  Garman  as  teacher  paying 
scant  attention  to  Hickok  we  acquired  ideas  and  ideals  that  gleamed 
clear  in  the  sunlight  of  Truth,  we  built  a  faith  that  stood  unshaken 
in  later  years.  His  illustrations  illustrated,  they  were  not  mere 
ornaments.  For  instance,  he  would  say  that  the  universe,  material 
as  truly  as  moral,  depends  on  God  for  its  continued  existence  from 
moment  to  moment  as  truly  as  the  rainbow  on  the  continued  shining 
of  the  sun.  And  then  he  would  go  on  to  show  that  there  was  sound 
philosophy  in  St.  Paul's  words,  "For  in  Him  we  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being. " 

It  was  in  his  work  under  Garman  that  Mahoney's  keen  mind  had 
its  greatest  delight  and  stimulus  and  expansion,  and  something  of 
the  affection  which  he  felt  for  his  teacher  is  expressed  in  his  lines, 

We'll  love  thee  till  our  life  depart, 

O  Garman  of  our  heart! 
We'll  love  thee  while  our  hearts  are  kind, 

O  Garman  of  our  mind! 
We'll  love  thee  while  the  seasons  roll, 

O  Garman  of  our  soul! 

Evidence  of  his  philosophic  attainments  is  seen  in  his  winning 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  prize  already  mentioned,  and  in  his  oration, 
"Personality  and  Its  Evolution  in  Character,"  delivered  on  the 
Commencement  stage. 

When  Commencement  Day  arrived,  July  2,  1884,  James  Mahoney 
could  look  back  upon  a  college  course  replete  with  honors,  but  his 
habit  was  to  concern  himself  with  present  duty  and  not  complacently 
to  survey  the  past.  There  remained  yet  one  height  to  be  attained, 
one  honor  to  be  won.  The  custom  of  those  days  was  to  select  as 
speakers  upon  the  Commencement  stage  those  eight  men  who 
ranked  at  the  head  of  the  graduating  class.  Of  course  Mahoney  was 
one.  The  Bond  Commencement  prize  of  $100  was  awarded  annually 


80  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

to  that  member  of  the  graduating  class  who  delivered  the  best  oration 
on  the  Commencement  stage,  both  composition  and  delivery  being 
considered  in  making  the  award.  Of  course  a  man  of  Mahoney's 
brain  and  heart  could  write  an  excellent  oration,  but  could  one  so 
unaccustomed  to  public  speaking  hope  to  win  the  coveted  honor? 
The  occasion  is  always  an  inspiring  one.  The  hall  is  filled  with 
friends  of  the  graduating  class.  Fathers,  mothers,  sisters,  brothers, 
sweethearts  are  there,  and  every  speaker  is  spurred  to  his  best.  This 
'84  Commencement  was  notable  on  account  of  the  presence  of 
Amherst's  greatest  son,  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  The  governor  and 
the  lieutenant-governor  of  the  Commonwealth  were  to  be  present 
at  the  graduating  exercises  and  Mahoney  was  painfully  aware  of 
the  fact.  He  had  passed  a  sleepless  night  and  his  every  nerve  was 
tense  as  he  took  his  place  on  the  Commencement  platform.  Among 
the  other  speakers  were  men  who  have  since  risen  to  eminence,  and 
two  of  them  have  been  honored  by  their  Alma  Mater  wdth  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws.  His  oration,  "Personality  and  Its  Evolution  in 
Character,"  the  fruit  of  his  careful  study  under  Seelye  and  Garman, 
was  listened  to  with  closest  attention,  and  after  the  awarding  of 
degrees  it  was  announced  that  the  Bond  prize,  the  crowning  honor 
of  the  college  course,  had  been  awarded  to  James  Mahoney. 

The  number  of  prizes  he  had  taken  in  his  college  course  was 
phenomenal  and  unprecedented,  and  equally  notable  is  the  fact 
that  these  honors  were  won  in  such  widely  different  fields. 

It  was  inevitable  that  such  a  man  should  be  sought  for  as  a  teacher 
in  prominent  institutions  of  learning,  but  in  many  cases  his  staunch 
Catholic  faith  stood  in  the  way.  When  asked  whether  he  would 
be  willing  to  change  his  faith  in  order  to  become  eligible  to  these 
positions  his  answer  was  always  an  instantaneous  and  indignant 
"No."  Had  they  known  their  man  they  never  would  have  asked 
the  question.  A  sand  dune  changes  its  position  under  the  influence 
of  the  wind,  but  Mahoney  was  no  sand  dune.  Like  the  granite  hills 
of  his  New  England  home  his  faith,  inherited  from  godly  ancestors 
and  made  his  own  by  earnest  and  profound  meditation,  was  built  upon 
rock  foundations  that  no  tempest  could  shake.  How  could  he  who 
could  not  be  false  to  others  be  false  to  himself?  He  had  early  heard 
the  divine  question,  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall  gain  the 
whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?  " 

Not  only  to  members  of  the  Amherst  faculty  did  he  feel  gratitude 
and  loyalty  but  to  Amherst  herself,  the  spirit  of  the  Alma  Mater 
which  had  nourished  him.  One  of  the  fruits  of  this  loyalty  is  seen 
in  his  pioneer  work  in  planning  for  what  is  now  known  as  the  Amherst 
Alumni  Council.  His  clear  eye  saw  that  the  ideas,  loyalty,  enthu- 
siasm, and  wealth  were  of  enormous  potential  value  to  Amherst, 
but  there  was  need  of  some  body  organized  for  their  utilization. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  81 

To  his  classmates  and  friends  he  persistently  pressed  this  idea,  and 
to  him  in  no  small  measure  is  due  the  agitation  which  crystallized  in 
establishing  the  Amherst  Alumni  Council. 

Professor  Cowles,  now  the  only  one  of  Mahoney's  teachers  still  a 
member  of  the  Amherst  faculty,  writes:  "I  recall  him  distinctly 
as  a  member  of  my  Latin  class,  and  as  one  who  was  an  excellent 
student  and  absolutely  reliable, — such  a  student  as  every  teacher 
likes  to  have  in  his  class.  I  recall  also  with  especial  pleasure  the 
many  talks  we  had  on  various  themes  outside  the  classroom,  often 
under  the  trees  in  front  of  South  College,  for  we  both  had  rooms  on 
College  Hill.  He  impressed  me  always  as  a  young  man  with  high 
ideals,  marked  earnestness  of  purpose,  and  one  who  would  not  desire 
to  tolerate  frivolity  or  hypocrisy  in  himself  or  in  others.  He  had  an 
eager  desire  to  know  the  truth  and  was  always  ready  to  defend  it  in 
accordance  with  the  light  he  had. 

"  He  was  a  man  well  endowed  with  intellectual  qualities  and  noble 
character,  incapable  of  thinking  or  doing  an  unworthy  deed. " 

Such,  in  barest  outline,  was  the  college  record  of  the  gifted  lad  who 
dwelt  and  pondered  and  saw  visions  in  Amherst  from  '80  to  '84. 
In  such  as  he  Amherst  glories,  and  of  such  she  says  in  the  words  of 
Cornelia  concerning  her  sons,  the  Gracci,  "These  are  my  jewels. " 

JOSEPH  O.  THOMPSON. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  MAHONEY'S  COMMON-PLACE  BOOK  KEPT  WHILE 
HE  WAS  AT  AMHERST 

James  Mahoney  was  educated  at  a  time  when  the  common-place 
book  was  in  the  ascendant,  at  least  for  young  people.  It  was  a  haven 
for  scattered  thoughts  and  was  probably  designed  originally  to  afford 
practice  in  putting  thoughts  into  words.  James  was  inveterate  in 
his  devotion  to  his  common-place  book  and  the  following,  written 
between  his  eighteenth  and  twenty-second  year,  indicate  an  unusually 
high  order  of  common-place  book  work. 


Unless  the  mind  frequently  recurs  to  its  ideal,  it  drowses  heavily, 
thinking  of  beef  and  money  and  lands  and  things. 


Events  and  objects  sound  the  keys  in  the  scale  of  being,  but  there 
is  need  of  a  guiding  influence  in  the  opinion,  so  that  there  may  be 
harmony — an  ideal  though  itself  be  undefined  and  the  lines  of  its 
guidance  focus  only  in  infinity. 


Some  would  have  us  believe  we  are  but  puppets  of  the  Divine  will. 
As  if  the  Lord  in  some  childish  mood  had  fallen  to  making  dolls. 


82  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

In  a  single  pail  of  water  is  doubtless  enough  electricity,  if  developed, 
to  blast  the  largest  edifice  in  the  world  with  one  fierce  flash;  so  in  the 
human  will  is  enough  fierce  intensity  to  melt  away  all  obstacles — 
if  man  chooses  to  use  it. 


Man's  being  is  in  the  beginning  a  void,  a  chaos,  till  his  God-given 
spirit  move  over  its  waters  and  says  "Let  there  be  light."  Much  is 
said  nowadays  of  living  according  to  nature.  If  I  be  not  much  mis- 
taken, loafers,  brawlers  and  savages  come  as  near  this  as  any,  letting 
the  elements  of  the  soul  lie  stagnant  instead  of  struggling  and 
agonizing  to  rise  up  from  the  slimy  pool,  obeying  the  impulse  of  the 
Ideal. 


There  is  especial  need  of  an  ideal  standard  in  this  age  and  even 
in  this  country,  for  the  standard  is  the  dollar  mark,  which  some 
observing  men  affirm  is  the  standard,  not  only  of  money  but  of 
opinions,  morals  and  religion.  In  a  word  the  tendency  of  the  age  is 
material,  dwelling  on  external  forms  and  surface  force  and  losing 
its  hold  on  the  spirit  of  things. 


We  hear  the  expression  "buried  in  thought. "     What  an  absurdity ! 
Why  it  is  only  by  thought  that  we  are  really  excavated. 


Man  may  confidently  follow  his  highest  aspirations,  till  the  wild 
rumor  rumbles  through  the  universe,  that  he  who  incited  them,  the 
Lord,  is  overthrown  and  Satan  reigns  supreme. 


Knowing  that  the  rosy  lips  of  the  opening  bud  and  the  glories 
of  the  sunset  are  but  the  reflex  beauties  of  the  jewel  of  the  soul,  as 
the  sunlight  sparkles  upon  it.  Let  us  glorify  the  jewel  and  burnish 
it  till  it  show  its  highest  radiance,  the  Ideal. 


With  a  disposition,  sentiment,  thought,  a  new  force  is  expanding 
in  our  soul  to  guide  acts,  to  weigh  in  determining  character. 


One  result  from  the  influence  of  the  Ideal,  is  the  purification  of 
our  motives,  which  lie  at  the  root  of  all  actions  and  determine 
character. 


But  who  may  tell  of  a  sacred  vision  of  the  soul  in  the  words  of 
every  day?  Who  may  catch  it  for  any  words?  'Twould  be  as  hard 
as  to  catch  the  Aurora  and  put  it  in  your  pocket. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  83 

To  purge  the  soul  from  taint  of  selfish  thought.  To  purge  the 
soul  from  filth  of  evil  ancestry,  to  keep  the  heart  pure  as  the  driven 
snow,  the  spirit  sparkling  with  youth  even  in  age,  this  is  work  worthy 
of  man. 


Nature  has  no  beauty  for  him  whose  heart  and  head  are  not  good 
and  kind. 


Since  it  is  our  highest  faculties  that  serve  the  Ideal;  since  aspira- 
tion is  the  service  they  render  and  not  theories  and  formulas,  which 
might  be  dangerous;  it  follows,  hence,  that  those  who  strive  after 
the  Ideal  continually  endeavor  to  purify  their  own  acts  and 
thoughts  and  to  reform  others. 


All  agree  that  the  subjective  world  is  as  real  as  the  objective,  but 
all  do  not  consider  that  this  implies  that  every  man  is  the  germ  of  a 
universe,  capable  of  expanding  into  oceans,  forests  and  mountains, 
that  is  vast  and  noble  thoughts  and  as  the  laws  of  the  objective 
converge  to  some  mysterious  focus  and  the  deeper  we  penetrate 
into  the  depths  of  nature,  the  more  closely  do  they  converge  to  the 
thoughts  and  aspirations  of  man  point  darkly  toward  an  ideal,  and 
the  higher  we  ascend  with  the  noblest  natures,  the  nearer  we  seem 
to  approach  the  holy  presence  of  the  Ideal. 


But  as  nature  offers  perfumed  breezes,  violets  and  roses  to  the 
shapeless  blue  of  the  skies,  thus  we  should  offer  our  purest,  noblest 
thoughts  to  our  Ideal,  though  he  will  not  descend  from  his  high 
abode,  in  naked  form  before  our  vision.  Well  for  us,  perhaps,  that 
it  is  so,  for  were  the  mystery  rent,  God  himself  might  burst  upon  us 
in  piercing  splendor. 


Is  it  not  safer  to  follow  the  risings  of  the  moon,  the  settings  of  the 
sun,  to  "go  to  the  sea  in  ships,"  try  any  fiery,  any  watery  element, 
than  to  venture  upon  that  internal  universe,  where  there  is  no  height, 
no  depth,  yet  all  that  is  high  or  deep;  no  night,  no  day,  yet  all 
that  is  dark  or  light.  Oh,  surely  it  would  be  madder  than  any  airy 
project  that  ever  entered  the  brain  of  lunatic,  unless  we  believe  there 
is  a  magnet,  true  as  ever  needle  to  the  pole,  far  safer  than  to  follow 
along  the  turnpike  of  custom. 


It  is  said  that  the  mind  cannot  act  until  it  is  awakened  by  the 
senses.  Oh  when  will  the  mind  grow  independent  of  this  call-bell 
and  mount  to  its  own  regions  self -incited? 


84  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

It  is  the  habit  since  the  Darwinian  theory  to  speak  of  everything 
as  decided  by  its  environment,  by  its  conditions;  everything  as  held 
fast  in  the  iron  fangs  of  fate,  until  the  poor  human  soul  cries  in  its 
struggles,  "O  God,  the  universe  is  weighing  upon  me.  Free  me 
from  this  load." 


Sweet  the  mem'ries  shed  around  us 

By  the  sacred  past; 
Strongly  friendship's  ties  have  bound  us, 

One  united  class. 

— J.  F.  Morse. 

DARLEY-IN-THE-DALE 

AMHERST,  MASSACHUSETTS 

Sunday,  September  5,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  learned  with  sincere  grief  of  the  sudden  passing  away  of  your 
brother,  and  my  dear  friend,  James,  by  telephone  from  Mr.  Gavin 
at  Greenfield  to-day.  I  hasten  to  convey  to  you  my  sincere  sympathy 
in  the  loss  which  has  come  to  you. 

I  have  notified  various  of  his  classmates,  and,  as  soon  as  the  details 
of  the  sad  event  reach  you,  I  wish  you  would  inform  me  of  them  and 
call  upon  me  freely  for  any  service  which  I  can  render  to  you  in  our 
mutual  sorrow. 

I  can  be  reached  here  and  can  go  on  to  Boston  at  once  if  I  can  in  any 
way  assist  you. 

Mrs.  Dakin  and  my  boys  join  me  in  sympathy  for  you  and  your 
sister,  for  the  loss  which  has  come  so  suddenly  to  us  all. 
Most  sincerely, 

ARTHUR  H.  DAKIN. 
Miss  MAHONEY, 

72  G  Street,  So.  Boston,  Mass. 


AMHERST,  MASS., 
September  12,  1915. 
To  THE  FAMILY  OF  JAMES  MAHONEY. 

Dear  Friends: 

I  am  only  one  of  the  large  circle  of  James'  friends,  and  while  my 
heart  is  filled  with  sadness  at  the  thought  of  parting  with  such  a  true 
friend  as  he  was,  I  am  conscious  that  upon  you  this  bereavement  falls 
with  greatest  force.  Be  assured  that  in  bearing  this  heavy  cross  you 
have  my  heart's  deepest  sympathy. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  85 

James  and  I  were  classmates  at  Amherst,  and  at  the  end  of  fresh- 
man year  each  of  us  received  a  Topping  prize  of  $25  for  greatest 
improvement  made  during  the  year.  That  improvement  continued 
through  his  entire  four-years'  course  and,  as  you  doubtless  remember, 
he  became  the  leading  Greek  scholar  in  the  class,  and  received  on 
Commencement  day  the  Bond  prize  of  $100  for  the  finest  oration 
delivered  on  the  Commencement  stage. 

When  my  marriage  engagement  was  announced  a  few  years  ago 
he  wrote  me  some  exquisite  verses,  full  of  poetic  feeling  and  beauty. 
These  lines  with  the  title,  "To  Joe  from  Jim,"  were  published  in  our 
classbook. 

I  glory  with  you  in  his  earnest  triumphant  life,  and  I  prize  the 
memory  of  his  generous  friendship.  May  God  comfort  you  and 
give  you  peace. 

Sincerely  your  friend, 

JOSEPH  O.  THOMPSON. 


PLYMOUTH,  MASS., 

December  22,  1917. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

I  should  be  glad  if  any  word  of  mine  could  adequately  express  the 
general  appreciation  in  which  your  brother  was  held  by  all  of  us  who 
knew  him.  But  I  have  an  appreciation  of  him  wholly  personal, 
gained  by  my  intimate  knowledge  of  his  ability  and  worth.  During 
the  year  we  were  together,  his  quiet  persistent  search  for  the  real 
truth  and  worth  in  any  subject  of  study,  his  appreciation  of  what  was 
finest  and  best  in  books  and  men  and  things  were  a  continual  revela- 
tion and  inspiration  to  me.  No  superficial  work,  no  incomplete 
knowledge  could  content  him.  No  expense  of  time  or  effort  mattered 
to  him  if  only  he  gained  by  them  the  real  things  and  the  substantial 
truth  he  sought. 

His  earnest  spirit,  his  eagerness  to  find  the  truth,  his  honest  and 
intelligent  work,  and  his  zeal  to  make  use  of  all  the  best  which  our 
common  college  afforded,  and  in  it  all  his  blameless  life  powerfully 
influenced  me  then,  and  have  helped  me  ever  since. 

We,  who  knew  him,  all  of  us,  have  suffered  great  loss  by  his  untimely 
going;  and  I  more  than  they  all. 

Yours  very  truly, 

F.  J.  HEAVENS. 


86  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

HOTEL  PURITAN 

COMMON-WEALTH  AVENUE 

BOSTON,  U.  S.  A. 

September  8,  1915. 
DEAR  MISSES  MAHOXEY: 

Permit  me  to  express  to  you  my  sincere  and  deep  sympathy  in  your 
sudden  bereavement. 

Mr.  Mahoney  was  my  classmate  at  Amherst  and  one  whom  I  was 
proud  to  number  among  my  friends  at  college  and  since.  It  is  an 
especially  sad  coincidence  that  he  should  have  died  at  my  home  as  I 
was  about  to  visit  him  here. 

His  was  an  earnest  and  purposeful  character  in  his  college  days 
which  developed  into  life  of  singular  charm  and  usefulness. 

The  most  profound  sympathy  is  inadequate  at  such  a  time  but  it 
must  be  a  consolation  to  you  to  know  that  he  had  lived  his  life  so  well, 
Very  truly  yours, 

SAML.  H.  KINSLEY, 
of  Colorado  Springs, 

Colorado. 
CORNELL  UNIVERSITY 
COLLEGE  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES 

ITHACA,  N.  Y., 
September  13,  1915. 
THE  MISSES  MAHONEY, 

72  G  Street,  So.  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Ladies: 

The  news  of  your  brother's  death  was  a  great  shock  to  me.  I  had 
a  delightful  breakfast  with  him  in  Washington  last  May  and  he  seemed 
cheerful  and  happy  and  full  of  plans  for  the  future.  When  we  parted 
I  hoped  that  he  would  give  us  the  pleasure  of  visiting  us  at  Ithaca, 
since  he  planned  to  come  in  this  direction.  Later  I  received  in  San 
Francisco  a  note  telling  me  of  his  projected  trip  to  the  Coast  and  of 
the  paper  he  was  to  read  before  the  National  Education  Associa- 
tion. Had  I  received  his  note  a  day  or  two  earlier  we  might  have 
met  and  perhaps  have  returned  together. 

Please  accept  my  heartfelt  sympathy  in  your  loss.  In  this  I  speak 
for  the  class  as  well  as  for  myself,  although  the  former  will  doubtless 
take  some  formal  action  at  the  earliest  opportunity.  With  deepest 

sympathy'  W.  F.  W,LCOX. 

When  we  were  classmates  at  Amherst  I  did  not  know  James 
Mahoney  intimately.  But  I  had  a  great  respect  for  his  ability  as  a 
student  and  thinker.  He  seemed  to  have  a  genuine  feeling  for  the 
Greek  and  Latin  literature  which  we  studied  together  and  a  remark- 
able ability  to  put  into  vivid  and  chaste  English  with  a  real  literary 
flavor  to  his  rendering.  In  our  senior  year  his  insight  and  acumen 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  87 

in  grappling  with  the  philosophical  problems  which  Professor  Garman 
brought  to  our  attention  were  conspicuous  and  gave  high  promise  for 
his  future. 

After  our  paths  parted  at  Amherst  in  1884  I  kept  in  touch  with 
him  only  by  occasional  meetings  or  letters.  Two  or  three  times  he 
saw  Mrs.  Wilcox  and  me  when  on  hurried  journeys  to  or  through 
Boston  and  each  meeting  was  marked  by  some  act  of  gracious  and 
thoughtful  courtesy  so  characteristic  of  his  gentle  spirit.  His  interest 
in  all  class  matters  and  Amherst  matters  was  keen  and  noble;  his 
presence  at  our  class  reunions  never  failed  to  lift  them  to  a  little 
higher  plane  of  thought  and  feeling;  and  he  had  a  rare  gift  of  clean 
and  kindly  humor  which  bound  him  close  even  to  those  whose  dwell- 
ing place  was  nearer  the  earth  than  his.  We  shall  all  miss  him  sorely 
through  the  shortening  years  before  the  last  of  us  follows  in  his 
footsteps. 

W.  F.  WILCOX. 

In  the  White  Mountains  Winter  Resort 

HIGHLAND  HOUSE  THE  HOLLYWOOD 

SOUTHERN  PINES 

N.  C. 

JEFFERSON  HIGHLANDS,  N.  H., 

September  9,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

Of  course  the  sudden  taking  away  of  your  brother  and  my  class- 
mate makes  the  grief  doubly  hard  to  bear.  I  sincerely  share  your 
sorrow.  In  the  last  few  years  I  had  come  to  know  James  well,  and 
to  appreciate  the  sweetness  and  innate  gentleness  and  refinement  of 
his  nature.  He  was  a  man  among  men,  noble  and  manly  and  full  of 
strength  and  courage.  Only  a  short  time  ago  he  wrote  me  a  tender 
letter  after  the  loss  of  my  daughter,  and  in  it  he  expressed  a  strong 
conviction  that  those  who  went  before  were  waiting  for  us.  I  am 
sure  he  is  happy  in  finding  those  who  he  said  were  waiting  for  him. 
You  have  my  tender  sympathy  in  your  loss.  I  wish  I  could  be 
present  Saturday,  but  find  it  impossible. 
Yours  sincerely, 

JOSEPH  H.  SPAFFORD. 

PASTOR'S  STUDY 

HARVARD  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH 
DORCHESTER,  MASSACHUSETTS 

MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  learned  a  few  days  ago  from  Mr.  Ward  that  you  were  to  print  for 
the  benefit  of  friends  some  words  of  appreciation  of  your  brother 
James. 


88  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

We  respected  him  at  Amherst  for  his  independent  scholarship  and 
for  his  earnest  straightforward  way  of  speaking  and  acting.  He 
formed  his  own  opinion  and  dared  to  stand  back  of  it.  He  was  keen 
too  in  his  foresight  of  the  future,  taking  a  wide  range  and  a  large 
vision  of  affairs. 

Altho  of  a  different  religious  creed  from  most  of  his  class  at  college, 
while  quietly  maintaining  his  own  faith,  he  was  never  bigoted  or 
intrusive  of  others'  beliefs. 

He  was  a  loyal  member  of  the  Class  of  1884,  a  diligent  scholar,  an 
indefatigable  worker  and  a  warm  friend  among  his  fellows.  Jim 
Mahoney  was  an  honor  to  his  college  and  to  the  educational  interests 
which  he  ably  represented. 

I  shall  not  forget  the  genuine  courtesy  and  cordial  hospitality 
which  you  all  extended,  during  Jim's  lifetime,  to  Mrs.  Weeden  and 
me  when  we  visited  your  home  in  South  Boston. 
Sincerely  yours, 

CHARLES  F.  WEEDEN. 
July  20,  1916. 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS., 

December  8,  1916. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  Street,  So.  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Miss  Mahoney : 

Your  note  informing  me  of  your  purpose  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  your  brother  through  the  medium  of  a  biographical  sketch  reached 
me  in  due  season.  My  delay  in  replying  thereto  demands  an  apology 
which  is  hereby  tendered. 

I  heartily  commend  your  undertaking  as  one,  without  qualifica- 
tion, well  deserved. 

Of  your  brother's  life  work  I  had  no  intimate  personal  knowledge, 
but  there  is  abundant  testimony  from  others  that  it  was  of  the  highest 
order.  My  privilege  was  to  be  associated  with  him  during  college 
days  and  since  graduation  to  meet  him  at  class  reunions,  and  the 
friendship  thus  gained  I  have  cherished  as  one  of  my  best  possessions. 
We  in  Eighty -four  from  the  first  accepted  and  regarded  James 
Mahoney  as  one  of  the  strong  men  of  the  class,  both  morally  and 
intellectually,  and  our  admiration  of  him  increased  as  the  years 
went  by. 

His  death  was  untimely,  but  he  has  left  behind  a  record  of  honor- 
able, efficient  and  praise-worthy  achievement,  most  gratifying  to  his 
many  friends. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

WALTER  S.  ROBINSON. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  89 

E.  M.  GREENE,  M.  D. 

45  CHESTNUT  STREET 

BOSTON 

November  28,  1916. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  preparing  a  biography  of  James. 
The  story  of  his  life  will  carry  inspiration  and  encouragement. 

He  was  one  of  that  rare  type  that  impresses  on  all  classmates  and 
associates  an  ideal  of  sincerity,  determination  to  achieve  the  highest 
in  character  and  mental  development  and  of  unshakable  Christian 
faith  that  will  remain  a  never-to-be-forgotten  inspiration. 

Long  years  of  close  association  increased  our  love  and  admiration 
of  him  as  a  man  and  brother. 

With  best  wishes, 

EDWARD  M.  GREENE. 

THE  YOUTH'S  COMPANION 
BOSTON,  MASSACHUSETTS 

June  28,  1916. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

It's  unusual  for  a  man  to  have  a  friend  covering  a  period  of  twenty- 
five  years  and  at  the  end  of  that  period  realize  and  appreciate  his 
virtues  more  than  at  the  beginning. 

Your  brother  and  I  entered  college  in  the  fall  of  '80  and,  while  we 
never  were  very  intimate  in  college  or  afterwards,  we  were  the  best  of 
friends  and  frequently  met — always  several  times  each  year.  In 
recent  years  I  have  been  profoundly  impressed  with  the  high  ideals 
and  strong  purposes  to  which  he  held  and  by  which  he  guided  his  life. 
It  was  a  very  great  shock  to  me  to  learn  of  his  death  last  fall — yet 
I  cannot  but  feel  that  his  fifty  years  or  more  of  life  have  enriched  the 
lives  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact — so  that  it  can  be  truly 
said  that  he  still  lives  among  us. 

Yours  sincerely, 

C.  E.  KELSEY. 

BROCKTON,  MASS., 
September  11,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  feel  that  it  is  something  which  I  owe  to  you  and  your  sister  as  well 
as  to  myself  to  express  my  sympathy  for  you  in  the  loss  of  your 
brother,  and  my  own  sadness  in  the  loss  of  a  friend.  It  does  not 
seem  thirty-five  years  since  I  first  met  James,  at  Amherst,  and  began 
an  acquaintance  which  ripened  into  friendship  which  has  grown 
dearer  through  all  these  years.  I  learned  long  since  what,  of  course, 
has  always  been  known  to  you,  that  he  was  one  of  the  noblest  works  of 


90  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

God — a  Christian  gentleman,  whom  we  '84  men  loved.  I  don't  know 
that  the  multiplication  of  words  could  add  to  that.  But  life  means 
more  to  us  all  because  we  knew  him. 

I  was  sorry  not  to  have  been  able  to  reach  the  home  to-day  owing 
to  a  misunderstanding  about  the  time,  which  was  sent  to  us  as  9:30 
instead  of  9,  so  I  went  directly  to  the  church.  It  is  not  possible  for 
us  to  understand  why  one  in  the  richest  time  of  life  should  be  called 
from  his  work,  nor  can  we  be  reconciled  to  it  now.  But  it  is  my  hope 
that  you  and  your  sister  will  be  upheld  in  your  sorrow  by  the  faith 
which  we  have  that  in  God's  own  time  when  you  meet  him  again  it 
will  be  clear.  Meanwhile  I  shall  always  remain, 
Yours  very  kindly, 

A.  V.  LYON,  M.  D. 


NUMBER  ONE  BROADWAY 
NEW  YORK  CITY 

January  3,  1917. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  very  much  regret  that  a  continued  absence  from  the  city  has  pre- 
vented me  from  making  an  earlier  acknowledgment  to  your  letter 
concerning  your  good  brother,  whose  untimely  and  premature  death 
brought  so  much  regret  and  sorrow  to  us  all.  It  was  not  my  good 
fortune  to  know  him  well  in  college,  but  in  later  years  I  learned  to 
prize  his  regard  and  his  friendship  more  and  more,  and  I  look  back 
with  the  greatest  pleasure  upon  the  time  when  he  first  visited  Mrs. 
Atwater  and  me  almost  twenty  years  ago,  at  our  house  in  Fall  River, 
and  later,  only  a  very  few  years  ago,  when  we  had  a  most  delightful 
week  with  him  at  our  summer  place  on  the  eastern  end  of  Long  Island. 

If  I  were  to  try  to  characterize  him,  I  would  say  that  he  was  an 
idealist  and  that  to  him  all  sham  was  abhorrent  and  all  untruth 
revolting.  He  always  strove  for  that  which  was  the  greatest  good 
and  allowed  nothing  to  swerve  him  from  the  shining  ideal  that  he 
could  see  ahead. 

I  am  sure  the  feeling  is  already  borne  in  on  many  of  us  who  were 
his  classmates,  that,  as  each  day  and  week  goes  by,  we  miss  him  even 
more  than  we  did  before,  and  at  each  recurrent  reunion  the  void 
occasioned  by  his  absence  will  be  very,  very  great.  I  had  learned  to 
love  him  and  so  can  in  some  degree,  perhaps,  feel  an  appreciation  of 
your  very  great  loss. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

WM.  C.  ATWATER. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  Street,  So.  Boston,  Mass. 
WCA/E 


JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL  91 

W.  H.  WHEELER,  Prest.  H.  H.  BUTTS,  Vice-Prest.  O.  G.  FESSENDEN, 

Sect'y  and  Treas. 

IMPORTERS  OF  DIAMONDS  AND  ALL  PRECIOUS  STONES 
Manufacturers  of  Gold  Cases,  Rings  and  Jewelry 

2  MAIDEN  LANE 

18  Holborn  Viaduct,  London 

32  Sarphatistraat,  Amsterdam 

Telephone  7365  Cortland 

Cable  "Attribute" 

NEW  YORK, 
November  14,  1916. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

It  strikes  me  that  a  biography  of  your  brother  James  would  be  a 
fine  thing  to  publish.  He  was  a  classmate  of  mine  and  there  was  not 
a  member  of  our  class  who  did  not  with  great  regret  hear  of  his  being 
called  from  us.  "Jim,"  as  we  familiarly  called  him,  was  a  man  and 
there  is  no  greater  word  in  the  English  language. 
Very  truly  yours, 

W.  H.  WHEELER. 


WILLIAM  P.  KINNEY,  JUDGE 
County  Court  Chambers 

El  Passo  County 
COLORADO  SPRINGS,  COL. 

James  Mahoney  and  I  were  fellow  students  at  Amherst  College. 
As  classmates  we  were  brought  into  daily  contact  with  each  other  and 
I  came  to  know  him  quite  intimately.  One  of  his  dominating  char- 
acteristics which  impressed  me  from  the  start  was  his  intense  love  of 
hard  work.  Whatever  he  undertook  he  performed  with  a  thorough- 
ness which  was  exceptional.  He  was  not  content  with  mastering  the 
allotted  tasks  of  the  day,  but  he  pondered  deeply  upon  the  subjects 
under  consideration  and  weighed  them  from  every  possible  point  of 
view.  The  fact  that  a  certain  conclusion  had  been  reached  by  the 
author  of  a  text-book  did  not  satisfy  him.  He  insisted  upon  reason- 
ing the  matter  out  for  himself.  This  thoroughness  became  by  con- 
tinued practice  a  habit  which  controlled  him  through  life.  It  marked 
his  work  as  a  teacher  and  was  a  stepping  stone  to  the  leadership 
which  he  attained  in  his  chosen  profession. 

He  was  endowed  with  more  than  ordinary  ability.  With  this 
ability,  with  his  zeal  for  ascertaining  underlying  causes,  and  with  his 
habit  of  close  application  he  could  have  made  a  success  in  almost 
any  walk  of  life.  It  is  especially  easy  to  imagine  him  as  a  successful 
physician  or  lawyer.  But  he  sought  service  rather  than  wealth.  He 
was  convinced  that  he  should  devote  his  talents  to  the  instruction  of 
the  young.  This  he  made  his  life  work,  and  he  continued  in  the 
harness  to  the  very  end  with  courage,  vigor  and  enthusiasm  undimmed. 


92  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

James  Mahoney  was  loyal  to  the  core.  He  was  not  demonstrative 
in  his  manner,  but  those  who  were  closest  to  him  well  knew  the  warmth 
of  his  feelings  for  his  friends  and  especially  for  the  members  of  '84. 
\Ve  who  survive  him  ever  regarded  him  with  the  highest  esteem.  We 
shall  forever  treasure  the  countless  pleasant  memories  of  our  associa- 
tions with  him. 

W.    P.    KlNNEY. 

November  18,  1916. 

WILLIAM  GARDNER,  D.  O. 
402  STEWART  OFFICE  BUILDING 

ROCKFORD,  ILL., 
September  21,  1915. 
THE  MISSES  MAHONEY, 

72  G  Street,  So.  Boston. 
Ladies: 

Accept  my  heartfelt  sympathy.  We  too,  the  men  of  Amherst  '84, 
have  lost  a  brother.  I  feel  that  I  have  come  to  know  better  many  of 
my  classmates  than  I  knew  them  when  wre  were  fellow  students.  I 
shall  always  bear  in  mind  the  form  of  your  brother  trudging  up  college 
hill  to  recitations,  patient,  cheerful  and  determined,  with  never  a 
complaint  arising  from  his  physical  infirmity,  which  men  of  less  grit 
would  have  regarded  as  an  insuperable  handicap.  His  Irish  will 
power  and  quiet,  wholesome  sense  of  humor  saved  him  from  taking 
the  whips  and  stings  of  fortune  too  seriously,  and  enabled  him  to  get 
the  best  possible  results  out  of  his  college  course.  His  powerful 
handclasp  and  wholehearted  greeting  were  among  the  most  gratifying 
experiences  of  our  reunions  in  later  years.  His  poetry,  his  eloquence 
and  force  in  debate,  his  broadmindedness  and  balanced  judgment 
made  him  in  his  maturity,  one  of  the  big,  strong  men  of  the  class. 
With  kindest  regards  believe  me, 

Sincerely  yours, 

WILLIAM  GARDNER. 


NEWTON  CENTRE,  MASS., 

July  13,  1916. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

It  is  a  sad  pleasure  to  pay  my  affectionate  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
my  dear  classmate — your  brother  James. 

He  was  always  too  generous  in  his  hospitality,  loyal  in  his  friend- 
ships and  true  to  those  he  loved. 

It  was  not  until  after  my  marriage  that  we  had  a  home  in  Newton, 
that  I  began  to  know  Jim  better  and  to  appreciate  him  at  his  true 
worth.  What  an  implacable  foe  he  was  to  graft!  He  was  almost 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  93 

Miltonic  in  his  denunciation  of  wrong — especially  to  children.  How 
often  have  I  seen  him  at  white  heat  when  the  destructive  personality 
came  in  his  way.  And  equally  incandescent  was  he  when  he  felt  that 
any  one  of  his  friends  had  been  falsely  blamed. 

Mrs.  Ward,  in  her  quiet  way,  loved  and  appreciated  the  nobility  of 
his  nature  as  well  as  the  sensitiveness  of  his  soul.  In  many  ways 
they  were  kindred  spirits — both  cherishing  a  tender  regard  for  each 
other  until  the  Angel  of  Death  beckoned  them  onward. 

When  James  lost  his  mother,  Mrs.  Ward  wrote  to  him: 

I  hope  that  this  will  reach  you  promptly  to  tell  you  that  we  feel  a  true  sorrow  for 
your  affliction.  In  your  busy,  but  lonely  life,  the  old  home  ties  are  precious,  and  we 
know  what  it  means  to  you  that  any  of  them  must  be  snapped. 

You  will  have,  in  this  instance,  the  comfort  of  knowing  that  you  have  been  more 
than  a  good  son,  a  devoted  one,  an  unselfish  and  tender  one.  There  is  no  comfort  of 
any  other  kind,  when  death  bereaves  us  of  our  dearest. 

Most  sincerely  and  sympathetically  yours, 

E.  S.  P.  WARD. 

In  another  letter  to  him  she  wrote: 

"  Death  is  natural — and  must  be  easier  than  life. 
And  eternal  life  is  beyond,  and  God  is  good." 

Each  of  these  sympathetic  friends  has  now  proven  the  philosophy 
of  these  simple  but  penetrating  words. 

Each  Easter  for  years  James  sent  Mrs.  Ward  the  appropriate 
remembrance  of  flowers.  This  she  appreciated  greatly — and  more 
and  more  as  each  Easter  came  nearer  her  last  here.  In  acknowledg- 
ing them  in  1900  she  wrote: 

If  friendship  means  a  faithful,  delicate,  sympathetic  power  of  never  forgetting  to 
remember,  then  yours  for  us  deserves  to  stand  model  for  many  a  more  obtrusive  or  more 
articulate  feeling.  I  don't  know  which  of  us  enjoys  your  flowers  and  kind  thoughts 
the  more,  my  husband  or  I.  I  hope  your  Easter  will  bring  you  some  breath  of  the 
immortal  hope  which  is  all  that  keeps  this  world  from  despair — or,  I'll  go  so  far  as  to 
say,  from  suicide,  for  the  thoughtful.  As  for  the  thoughtless,  they  are  as  they  are,  and 
their  gaiety  is  sadder  than  a  wiser  sadness. 

Both  had  that  "wiser  sadness" — for  both  were  physically  greatly 
hampered — and  so  expanded  in  soul  and  wisdom,  and  saw  visions 
that  were  denied  to  many  a  stronger  and  more  rugged  nature. 

I  can  recall  many  a  dinner  of  us  three — many  a  quiet  evening  in 
which  the  conversation  touched  and  penetrated  civic,  social,  spiritual 
subjects,  as  all  of  which  those  two  dear  friends  had  thought  deeply 
and  for  which  they  had  acted  fearlessly.  Both  were  dreamers  and 
fighters,  for  of  such  are  the  noblest  in  this  staggering  world  of  ours. 

"But  such  a  tide  as  moving  seems  asleep, 

Too  full  for  sound  and  foam, 

When  that  which  drew  from  out  the  boundless  deep 
Turns  again  home." 


94  JAMES   MAHONEY   MEMORIAL 

Tennyson  might  have  written  these  lines  for  Mrs.  Ward  or  James 
Mahoney.  Both  had  cryptic  understanding,  with  such  deep  religious 
natures  that  they  understood  the  Pilot  and  His  commands  when 
others  could  not  read  the  signals.  I  think  it  sometimes  takes  great 
suffering  to  bring  out  the  noblest  ideals  and  make  them  of  poignant 
value  to  humanity. 

James  really  completed  his  work,  although  his  sudden  crossing  the 
bar  did  not  make  it  seem  so. 

Each  one  completes  his  work  when  he  has  lived  the  limit  of  his 
powers,  James  did  that. 

His  thousands  of  pupils  are  stimulated  by  his  life.  His  friends  are 
ennobled  by  his  passing  their  way.  Those  who  loved  him  feel  no 
"sadness  of  farewell."  He  is  the  happier  for  this  broader  and  more 
wonderful  experience. 

And  why  should  we  grieve? 

Believe  me  very  faithfully  yours, 

HERBERT  D.  WARD. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 
DEPARTMENT  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

May  25,  1916. 
Miss  N.  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  Street,  South  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

Thank  you  very  much  for  sending  me  the  copy  of  your  brother's 
publications  which  has  just  come  to  hand.  They  show  evidence  of 
his  characteristic  carefulness  and  scholarship  in  their  thoroughness  of 
treatment  and  will  be  a  welcome  memorial  of  the  professional  side  of 
his  life,  about  which  most  of  his  classmates  knew  too  little.  He  was 
so  modest  that  he  rarely  told  us  anything  about  what  he  was  doing. 

It  is  nearly  a  year  now  since  he  left  us  and  I  have  thought  many 
times  since  of  his  remarkable  ability  in  college.  He  was  far  beyond 
most  of  us  in  his  appreciation  of  the  things  of  the  mind,  of  fine 
literature  and  true  scholarship.  I  prized  his  friendship  and  shall 
prize  his  memory  as  long  as  I  remember  anything. 
Sincerely  yours, 

JAMES  H.  TUFTS. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 
DEPARTMENT  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

July  11,  1918. 
My  dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

When  I  think  of  your  brother  and  my  classmate  two  pictures  rise 
almost  inevitably,  which  it  seems  to  me  suggest  two  characteristic 
phases  of  his  character  and  abilities.  The  first  picture  is  of  him  as  I 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  95 

used  to  meet  him  so  frequently  of  a  morning,  he  on  his  way  to  chapel, 
I  on  mine  to  breakfast.  It  was  characteristic  of  his  spirit  that,  so 
far  as  I  know,  he  never  asked  any  exemption  from  chapel  because  of 
his  lameness;  he  merely  rose  earlier.  Some  of  the  rest  of  us  were 
frequently  late;  I  never  knew  him  to  be  late.  I  think  this  is  typical  of 
his  spirit  in  his  whole  life.  He  came  very  near  to  illustrating*  Words- 
worth's "Happy  Warrior"  who,  out  of  necessity,  makes  glorious 
gain.  A  certain  resolute  temper,  a  certain  attitude  of  mastering, 
instead  of  being  mastered  by,  what  to  others  would  have  been  a  handi- 
cap, a  certain  dignity  and  seriousness— all  these  may  have  been  part 
of  his  natural  endowment  but  they  were  perhaps  reinforced  by  his 
circumstances.  At  any  rate  they  always  challenged  my  respect  and 
admiration. 

The  other  picture  is  of  him  as  he  used  to  rise  and  translate  Greek 
in  the  Athene  room  in  Williston  Hall.  Just  why  he  is  associated  with 
this  classroom  more  than  with  the  classrooms  in  mathematics  or 
philosophy  in  which  we  sat  together  I  am  not  sure,  but  so  it  is.  I 
think  it  was  in  that  classroom  that  his  striking  ability  in  the  use  of 
language  and  more  than  this  in  the  appreciation  of  the  shades  of 
thought  and  artistic  expression  first  impresses  me.  Certain  it  was 
that  although  he  excelled  in  all  his  studies,  so  far  as  I  recall,  he  was 
particularly  at  home  in  the  world  of  thought  and  art  which  was  grad- 
ually dawning  upon  us  in  that  classroom.  It  was  largely  beyond  the 
scope  of  most  of  us  but  for  him  it  was  a  liberation  of  spirit  and  the 
welcoming  of  kindred  mind.  The  appreciation  of  things  of  the  mind, 
of  fine  literature,  and  a  genuine  scholarship  which  he  showed  here  was 
an  earnest  of  his  whole  life  and  work  in  college. 

Yet  in  many  ways  I  did  not  know  him  in  college — none  of  us  knew 
him — as  I  came  to  know  him  later  at  some  of  the  class  reunions. 
While  he  could  not  enter  into  the  rough  and  tumble  athletic  life  which 
made  up  a  considerable  part  of  our  class  experience  while  in  college  he 
was  one  of  the  most  active  in  contributing  to  the  good  fellowship  and 
literary  features  of  our  class  reunions.  In  particular  his  poem  at  one 
of  these  reunions  was  by  far  the  strongest  note  that  has  been  struck  on 
any  of  these  occasions.  Its  interpretation  of  the  men  and  values  that 
we  cherished  brought  us  all  nearer  together  in  a  common  bond  of  high 
thought  and  noble  feeling.  I  prized  his  friendship  and  shall  always 
prize  his  memory. 

Yours  sincerely, 

JAMES  H.  TUFTS. 

*  Wordsworth's  "  Character  of  the  Happy  Warrior"  to  which  Professor  Tufts  adverts 
is  appended. 


96  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  HAPPY  WARRIOR 

Who  is  the  happy  Warrior?     Who  is  he 

That  every  man  in  arms  should  wish  to  be? 

— It  is  the  generous  Spirit,  who,  when  brought 

Among  the  tasks  of  real  life,  hath  wrought 

Upon  the  plan  that  pleased  his  boyish  thought: 

Whose  high  endeavors  are  an  inward  light 

That  makes  the  path  before  him  always  bright: 

Who,  with  a  natural  instinct  to  discern 

What  knowledge  can  perform,  is  diligent  to  learn; 

Abides  by  this  resolve,  and  stops  not  there, 

But  makes  his  moral  being  his  prime  care; 

Who,  doomed  to  go  in  company  with  Pain, 

And  Fear,  and  Bloodshed,  miserable  train! 

Turns  his  necessity  to  glorious  gain, 

In  face  of  these  doth  exercise  a  power 

Which  is  our  human  nature's  highest  dower; 

Controls  them  and  subdues,  transmutes,  bereaves 

Of  their  bad  influence,  and  their  good  receives: 

By  objects,  which  might  force  the  soul  to  abate 

Her  feeling,  rendered  more  compassionate; 

Is  placable — because  occasions  rise 

So  often  that  demand  such  sacrifice; 

More  skilful  in  self-knowledge,  even  more  pure, 

As  tempted  more;  more  able  to  endure, 

As  more  exposed  to  suffering  and  distress; 

Thence,  also  more  alive  to  tenderness. 

— 'Tis  he  whose  law  is  reason;  who  depends 

Upon  that  law  as  on  the  best  of  friends; 

Whence,  in  a  state  where  men  are  tempted  still 

To  evil  for  a  guard  against  worse  ill, 

And  what  in  quality  or  act  is  best 

Doth  seldom  on  a  right  foundation  rest, 

He  labours  good  on  good  to  fix,  and  owes 

To  virtue  every  triumph  that  he  knows: 

— Who,  if  he  rise  to  station  of  command, 

Rises  by  open  means;  and  there  will  stand 

On  honourable  terms,  or  else  retire, 

And  in  himself  possess  his  own  desire; 

Who  comprehends  his  trust,  and  to  the  same 

Keeps  faithful  with  a  singleness  of  aim; 

And  therefore  does  not  stoop,  nor  lie  in  wait 

For  wealth,  or  honours,  or  for  worldly  state; 

Whom  they  must  follow;  on  whose  head  must  fall, 

Like  showers  of  manna,  if  they  come  at  all: 

Whose  powers  shed  round  him  in  the  common  strife, 

Or  mild  concerns  of  ordinary  life, 

A  constant  influence,  a  peculiar  grace; 

But  who,  if  he  be  called  upon  to  face 

Some  awful  moment  to  which  Heaven  has  joined 

Great  issues,  good  or  bad  for  human  kind, 

Is  happy  as  a  Lover;  and  attired 

With  sudden  brightness,  like  a  man  inspired; 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  97 

And,  through  the  heart  of  conflict,  keeps  the  law 

In  calmness  made,  and  sees  what  he  foresaw; 

Or  if  an  unexpected  call  succeed, 

Come  when  it  will,  is  equal  to  the  need: 

— He  who,  though  thus  endued  as  with  a  sense 

And  faculty  for  storm  and  turbulence, 

Is  yet  a  Soul  whose  master-bias  leans 

To  homefelt  pleasures  and  to  gentle  scenes; 

Sweet  images!  which,  wheresoe'er  he  be, 

Are  at  his  heart;  and  such  fidelity 

It  is  his  darling  passion  to  approve; 

More  brave  for  this,  that  he  hath  much  to  love: — 

Tis,  finally,  the  Man,  who,  lifted  high, 

Conspicuous  object  in  a  Nation's  eye, 

Or  left  unthought-of  in  obscurity, — 

Who,  with  a  toward  or  untoward  lot, 

Prosperous  or  adverse,  to  his  wish  or  not — 

Plays,  in  the  many  games  of  life,  that  one 

Where  what  he  most  doth  value  must  be  won: 

W7hom  neither  shape  of  danger  can  dismay, 

Nor  thought  of  tender  happiness  betray; 

Who,  not  content  that  former  worth  stand  fast, 

Looks  forward,  persevering  to  the  last, 

From  well  to  better,  daily  self-surpast: 

Who,  whether  praise  of  him  must  walk  the  earth 

For  ever,  and  to  noble  deeds  give  birth, 

Or  he  must  fall,  to  sleep  without  his  fame, 

And  leave  a  dead  unprofitable  name — 

Finds  comfort  in  himself  and  in  his  cause; 

And,  while  the  mortal  mist  is  gathering  draws 

His  breath  in  confidence  of  Heaven's  applause: 

This  is  the  happy  Warrior;  this  is  He 

That  every  Man  in  arms  should  wish  to  be. 

William  Wordsworth. 


WORCESTER,  MASS., 

November  28,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

It  was  extremely  thoughtful  in  you  to  write  me  of  the  death  of  your 
brother  James.  I  had  read  a  brief  word  in  the  newspaper  but  saw  no 
mention  of  his  kindred,  else  I  should  have  written  you. 

I  knew  him  first  in  college  as  a  fine  member  of  the  Class  of  '84, 
which  I  believe  has  been  the  most  genuinely  and  wisely  enthusiastic 
of  all  Amherst's  classes.  Then  I  knew  him  when  he  was  a  teacher 
here  in  Worcester.  In  the  later  years  our  meetings  have  been  less 
frequent,  chiefly  at  Amherst  and  at  gatherings  of  Amherst  men.  His 
sweetness  of  temperament  and  thoroughness  and  simplicity  of  his 
scholarship  have  impressed  me  most.  He  had  been,  as  I  have  seen 
him,  a  man  of  most  stimulating  and  elevating  influence.  It  must 
have  been  a  rare  privilege  to  have  been,  as  a  student,  under  his 

8 


98  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

tuition.     His  loss  will  be  felt  most  severely  by  those  outside  his 
family. 

Please  accept  my  sincerest  sympathy  in  the  great  bereavement 
which  you  feel. 

Cordially  yours, 

ARTHUR  P.  RUGG. 
To  Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY. 


320  WEST  83D  STREET,  NEW  YORK  CITY, 

September  12,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

The  shocking  news  of  your  brother's  death  was  sent  me  the  past 
week  by  Helen  Cooke.*  It  came,  as  you  can  imagine,  as  an  utter 
surprise.  I  fancied  him  as  hardy,  if  not  vigorous,  and  good  for  a  green 
old  age.  And  now  his  brilliant  career  is  over.  I  wish  I  might  have 
seen  him  oftener,  for  every  visit  was  an  intellectual  treat. 

The  blow  to  you  and  your  sister  must  be  a  crushing  one,  to  you 
both  I  send  my  heartfelt  sympathy.  Jim  was  a  rare  man — strong 
and  brave,  as  well  as  brilliant. 

Sincerely  yours, 

JAMES  E.  TOWER. 

*A  North  Brookfield  friend. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

October  28,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  received  the  news  of  your  brother's  death  with  the  sense  of  per- 
sonal loss.  I  have  known  him  slightly  for  a  number  of  years  and 
always  enjoyed  meeting  him,  but  it  was  not  until  last  winter  that  I 
got  close  to  him,  and  then  how  fine  he  was.  He  was  a  fine  type  of  an 
Irish  gentleman  (and  there  is  nothing  better) .  Proud  of  his  race  and 
proud  of  his  religion  but  broad  and  tolerant,  with  a  scorn  of  anything 
base  or  mean. 

I  used  to  see  him  walking  with  that  lame  foot  of  his,  uncomplaining 
and  with  undaunted  courage  and  a  gentle  and  winning  smile,  and  it 
always  seemed  to  me  an  outer  symbol  of  the  way  in  which  he  wralked 
through  life,  undaunted  and  brave  and  smiling  to  the  end. 

I  hold  it  high  privilege  to  have  had  him  as  a  friend,  and  I  send  to 
his  sister,  to  whom  his  loss  must  be  irreparable,  my  sincerest  sympathy. 
Faithfully  yours, 

ROLAND  COTTON  SMITH. 


JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL  99 

COMMENCEMENT  ORATION 

PERSONALITY  AND  ITS  EVOLUTION  IN  CHARACTER 

Though  the  heavens  rain  their  bounty  and  the  earth  is  heavy  with 
riches  and  man  is  strong,  yet,  year  by  year,  millions  are  groaning  with 
want,  with  sin  and  misery.  Government  has  been  blamed;  capital 
has  been  blamed;  and,  now,  environment  is  said  to  be  the  cause;  a 
blind  demon,  who  makes  some  the  "fittest,"  and  blesses  them  in  their 
"survival,"  makes  others  unfit,  and  crushes  them  without  mercy. 

No  independent  power  is  granted  to  the  individual.  We  are  shown 
our  kinship  to  the  brutes;  we  are  analyzed  into  carbon,  nitrogen  and 
oxygen  and  even  our  self-consciousness  is  declared  to  be  but  a  phase 
of  the  unknown,  a  ghostly  phenomenon  fluttering  over  the  unknowable. 

If  this  be  all  there  is  to  man  then  let  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the 
devil  environment  have  their  way.  Let  us  jeer  at  the  phrase,  "  Nobil- 
ity of  manhood";  let  us  scoff  at  the  command,  "Praise  God";  let  us 
mock,  and  with  our  empty  mockery  sink  back  into  the  black  unknown. 

But  to  whom  unknown?  Shall  we  call  it  "void?"  But  void  of 
what?  Has  full  or  empty,  finite  or  infinite,  man,  God  or  unknowable 
any  meaning  except  to  a  personal  individual  mind?  Blot  personality 
from  the  universe  and  you  blot  not  only  the  universe  and  environ- 
ment, but  you  blot  the  very  act  of  blotting.  However  much  environ- 
ment and  race  may  influence,  we  think,  not  as  environment  and  race, 
but  as  individuals. 

It  is  by  the  intrinsic  worth  of  individual  mind  that  we  declare  the 
existence  of  the  universe,  and  race.  If  the  world  does  not  exist  with- 
out us — as  some  philosophers  say — if  there  is  nothing  but  self,  then 
the  splendor  of  the  jewel,  the  beauty  of  the  flower  and  the  rolling 
systems  of  the  sky  are  but  the  self  revealing  to  self  its  native  grace, 
power  and  nobility. 

And  if  the  world  exist  without  us — as  consciousness  and  common 
sense  decide — still  it  is  certain  that  we  can  know  the  universe  only  as 
we  think  it,  reconstruct  it  within  the  lofty  spaces  of  the  mind;  and 
still,  the  gem,  the  flower  and  the  rolling  systems  of  the  sky  are  self- 
revelations  of  native  grace,  power  and  nobility. 

As  God  is  Constructor  of  the  universe  and  of  the  individual,  so  the 
individual  himself,  being  in  the  image  of  God,  is  Reconstructor  of  the 
universe  and  self  developer.  Nay,  in  really  thinking,  in  reconstruct- 
ing the  world,  we  self -develop ;  a  genuine  thought  is  not  mere  mental 
perception,  but  extends  into  the  depths  of  the  moral  and  spiritual. 

A  new  thought  is  a  new  fountain  of  vigor,  a  new  life  bursting  up 
through  the  soul.  Great  things  are  allied  to  great  thoughts;  even 
slaves  should  be  kept  in  dungeons  and  hovels,  where  they  may  not 
see  the  mountains  and  the  high  vault  of  heaven  lest  their  souls 
expand  and  they  burst  their  chains. 


100  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Thus  the  potential  of  self,  the  possibility  of  self-development  is 
great.  But  there  can  be  no  reconstruction  and  no  development, 
except  as  there  exists  within  the  self  a  plan  of  development,  a  deep, 
holy,  central  constructive  thought,  in  a  word,  an  ideal  thought; 
which  is  not  some  fine  fancy  of  a  sentimental  youth;  not  a  fair,  but 
distant  shape  of  beauty,  with  snowy  form  and  angel  eyes,  but  it 
exists  within  the  nature  of  the  noble  and  also  of  the  base. 

It  is  the  birthright  of  man;  granting  dignity  to  human  nature, 
honor  to  him  who  works  it  out  in  organic  living  character,  and  mean- 
ness to  the  conscious  wretch  who  rots  away  in  sloth  and  vice.  It  is 
that  which  makes  the  ages  bow  in  reverence  before  an  act  of  heroism; 
it  is  the  selective  standard;  and  urges  to  public  and  private  reform. 

To  accomplish  this,  to  incorporate  by  living  acts  the  noble  thought 
into  the  body  personal  and  the  body  politic,  requires  stern  effort,  a 
constant  use  of  the  conscious  will-power,  the  personal  energy. 

And  let  no  man  think  his  blood  so  pure  that  he  may  depend  upon 
that;  if  he  will  trace  his  ancestry  a  little  way  he  will  find  the  blood  of 
thieves  and  savages  flows  through  his  veins.  Many  a  rascal  has  been 
a  patrician.  But  let  no  man  think  his  blood  so  villainous  that  he 
must  despair,  for  he  is  made  in  the  image  of  God.  While  he  has  one 
honest  thought  his  own,  while  he  can  consciously,  of  himself,  strike 
one  honest  blow,  he  has  the  power  to  exalt  his  nature.  Many  a  true 
man  has  been  a  plebeian.  Not  for  us  is  it  to  quibble  whether  our 
wills  be  free;  if  we  feel  within  our  being  a  power  which  we  know  we 
may  or  may  not  exercise,  then  our  will  is  free,  or  consciousness  is  false. 

In  a  single  drop  of  water  there  is  probably  enough  electricity  to 
melt  mountains.  Who  will  say  what  power  the  conscious  self,  the 
self-developer  may  not  reveal?  If  we  whine  about  our  weakness,  and 
show  our  craniums  and  tell  our  pedigrees  and  declare  we  are  too  weak 
to  do  anything,  we  fulfill  our  expectations  and  do  nothing.  But  if  we 
swear  upon  our  soul  that  we  are  strong,  that  we  will  suffer  and  will 
conquer,  we  will  suffer  and  will  conquer,  though  death  be  the  trophy 
of  victory.  Yet  in  this  homely  life  of  ours  not  with  one  transcendant 
bound  can  the  soul  reach  its  ideal.  Hour  by  hour,  moment  by 
moment,  calmly  and  sternly,  crushing  petty  cares  and  fears,  purging 
away  the  filth  of  evil  ancestry,  purging  away  the  filth  of  evil  habit, 
drawing  life  and  love  from  race  and  environment,  gladness  from  the 
morning,  vigor  from  the  sun,  sternness  from  death,  rebounding  vigor 
as  we  pay  forth  love  and  gratitude  to  God  and  man,  rejoicing  in 
difficulties,  the  will,  the  active  agent  in  self -development  moves  to  its 
goal;  finely  seconded  in  its  efforts  by  the  reflex  action  system,  as  it 
radiates  from  the  central,  personal  energy,  it  reacts  with  equal  vigor 
upon  the  self;  an  act  is  repeated,  a  habit  is  formed,  and  the  man  is 
revolved  in  a  self-ordained  orbit.  But  energy  is  wasted  in  vain,  no 
real  character  is  formed,  nothing  but  loathsome  egotism  and  selfish- 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  101 

ness  is  gained,  unless  the  man  employ  his  growing  powers  in  pure 
hearted  honesty.  Without  this  quickening  sincerity  which  probes 
into  the  soul  of  life,  our  hearts  within  us  become  dead  hearts,  our 
thoughts  become  dead  thoughts  and  our  lives  moulder  away.  Look 
into  shallow  eyes  and  barren  faces,  look  into  the  bleaching  lives  of 
white-haired  hypocrites  and  shiny  pated  rascals,  and  see  the  desola- 
tion of  dishonesty,  sown  thick  with  lies.  Lies,  lies,  lies,  until  the 
home,  the  church,  the  state,  are  crawling  with  vile  things,  and  we 
almost  look  to  Heaven  for  a  thunder-bolt  to  turn  them  into  dust; 
and,  oh,  how  our  hearts  beat  high  at  the  brave  and  honest  soul  in 
scorn  of  wealth  and  worldly  power,  speaking  out  its  bold  truth  to 
the  ages. 

These  are  the  personal  elements  in  the  evolution  of  character;  the 
strong  will  linked  to  the  lofty  thought  in  honest  sincerity.  And  it  is 
a  glorious  thing  to  unfold  the  powers  of  our  being  and  grow  strong 
beneath  the  sun  of  heaven,  to  feel  the  gladness  of  new  strength,  in  the 
brain  and  new  purity  in  the  heart;  the  very  birds  and  fields  in  spring 
feel  the  joy  of  new-born  growing  life,  and  why  should  not  the  joy  of 
man  be  great  as  he  consciously  assists  in  his  growth  of  character? 
And  when  we  have  done  our  best,  man  by  man,  and  man  with  man, 
then  we  may  sternly  blame  capital  and  government  and  environment 
if  there  be  any  failure. 

Some  say  there  is  no  God  in  Heaven  and  no  life  hereafter.  If  this 
be  so,  yet  e'er  we  sink  down  into  nothingness,  we  may  proudly  greet 
our  soul  after  its  strong  endeavor  with  "Well  done  my  heart."  But 
if  God  still  reigns,  we  think  He  will  be  glad  that  men  act  like  men, 
and  will  say:  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful." 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 


CHAPTER  V 

"A  faithful  Friend  is  the  true  image  of  the  Deity." 

Thrice  blest  whose  lives  are  faithful  prayers, 

Whose  loves  in  higher  love  endure; 

What  souls  possess  themselves  so  pure, 

Or  is  there  blessedness  like  theirs? 

— Tennyson. 

There's  nothing  dark,  below,  above, 
But  in  its  gloom  I  trace  thy  love, 
And  meekly  wait  that  moment,  when 
Thy  touch  shall  turn  all  bright  again! 

— Moore. 

The  turf  shall  be  my  fragrant  shrine; 
My  temple,  Lord!  that  arch  of  thine; 
My  censer's  breath  the  mountain  airs, 
And  silent  thoughts  my  only  prayer. 

— Moore. 

LETTERS  FROM  PEOPLE  ASSOCIATED  WITH  HIM 

ST.  ANN'S  RECTORY 
WORCESTER,  MASSACHUSETTS 

MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

Let  me  say  a  word  of  sympathy  to  you  for  the  loss  of  your  brother 
who  was  a  very  dear  friend  to  me. 

Catholic  life,  especially  in  Massachusetts,  has  been  poorer  since 
the  day  the  wires  flashed  from  the  West  that  Professor  James 
Mahoney  was  dead.  The  friends  who  knew  him  best  and  loved  him 
most  had  heavy  hearts  that  hour,  and,  save  where  the  goodness  of 
God  and  mellowing  time  assuage  the  sense  of  loss,  have  much  of  the 
burthen  yet. 

He  was  a  rare  man, — one  from  a  thousand.  A  ripe  scholar  was  he, 
a  fast  and  true  friend,  and,  in  defense  of  right  and  hate  of  wrong,  as 
fearless  and  as  knightly  a  man  as  ever  rode  with  couched  lance  and 
visor  down. 

I  have  heard  James  Mahoney  in  public  discourses  and  marvelled 
at  the  depth  and  accuracy  of  his  utterance.  I  sat  with  him  for  hours 
afterwards  in  the  freedom  and  friendship  of  my  study  and  marvelled 
the  more, — so  learned  was  he,  so  sure  and  firm  his  advance  as  he 
warmed  with  his  theme.  It  was  said  of  Father  Faber  that  he  could 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  103 

light  up  dark  abysses  of  thought  as  by  a  lightning  flash.  James 
Mahoney  had  something  of  that  same  power, — he  was  wonderfully 
illuminating  when  his  heart  and  mind  were  burning  with  the  love  of 
his  work.  He  was  master  of  German  and  of  most  of  the  Roman 
tongues,  held  German  University  degrees  in  mathematics,  and  was 
familiar  with  Greek  and  Latin  as  most  teachers  of  our  day  are  with 
the  ordinary  literature  of  our  own  tongue.  All  this  with  a  native 
energy  and  a  tireless  love  of  labor,  made  him,  in  an  eminent  degree, 
what  I  have  called  him,  a  ripe  scholar. 

Once  James  Mahoney  took  you  to  his  heart  in  friendship  he  would 
have  your  grow  there.  You  became  part  of  himself,  and  no  courteous 
lover  ever  sought  for  his  lady-love  more  delicate  and  tender  ways  of 
manifesting  preference  than  did  he, — costly  and  rare  books,  beautiful 
flowers  on  occasions  that  were  sacred  to  you,  a  picture  with  a  history, 
— anything  and  everything  that  could  speak  to  you  of  him. 

In  strange  contrast  to  this  gentleness  was  the  flaming  fierceness  of 
his  hate  for  a  lie,  a  wrong  to  the  defenceless,  or  treachery  in  any  form. 
Then  the  whole  man  was  transformed.  His  speech  could  be  vitriol, 
his  eye  full  of  lightnings,  and  were  he  an  armed  man  in  other  and 
older  times  his  sword  would  have  worked  havoc  among  the  oppressors 
of  the  weak.  James  Mahoney  had  a  hot  and  turbulent  heart  by 
nature;  he  was  gentle  unspeakably  when  he  saw  God  and  right  and 
truth  in  control.  May  God  rest  him ! 

Very  truly  yours, 

JNO.  J.  McCoy. 

ALL  SOULS'  RECTORY 

SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 
November  28,  1916. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

In  sending  to  you  my  estimate  of  your  dear  brother's  character,  I 
feel  that  I  am  doing  the  one  service  which  he  would  ask  from  a  friend, 
if  his  silent  tongue  could  speak.  Unselfishness  so  strongly  character- 
ized him  that  in  the  interchange  of  friendly  confidence  one  seemed 
ever  warned  against  speaking  to  him  the  word  of  praise.  As  deeply 
rooted  in  his  nature  was  another  virtue — his  devotion  to  yourself  and 
your  sister.  In  life  he  would  have  his  good  qualities  and  deeds  speak 
for  themselves.  Now  at  last  one  may  write  the  word  of  genuine 
esteem  and  feel  that  it  would  be  the  wish  of  our  departed  one  to  have 
a  friend  bring  such  a  word  to  both  of  you  to  comfort  you  in  your 
loneliness. 

Years  brought  to  our  friend  increase  of  efficiency  in  his  chosen  call- 
ing. We  to  whom  he  came  in  the  early  '80's,  fresh  from  signal  aca- 
demic achievement,  take  pride  in  the  fact  that  we  were  the  first  to 
sit  before  this  great  teacher.  It  was  given  to  us  to  receive  of  the  first 


104  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

fruits  of  that  mind  aflame  with  enthusiasm  to  give  unto  others  from 
out  its  treasures  and  to  impart  to  young  minds  his  own  passionate 
love  of  study.  In  his  long  pedagogical  career  among  the  thousands 
who  deem  it  an  honor  to  have  been  taught  by  him,  perhaps  no  pupils 
are  indebted  so  largely  to  him  as  we  who  were  privileged  to  make  up 
his  first  class.  At  that  period  of  his  early  fervor  the  youthful  teacher, 
ambitious  to  succeed  in  his  chosen  profession,  bent  every  energy  to 
have  success  stamped  upon  the  first  work  assigned  to  him.  From 
the  beginning  he  gave  promise  of  that  eminence  as  an  educator  to 
which  he  came  in  after  years.  It  seems  now  a  far-off  day  since  we 
first  greeted  our  youthful  teacher,  but  we  have  not  forgotten  and  will 
not  forget  James  Mahoney.  His  was  a  character  too  strong,  a  mind 
too  gifted,  a  heart  too  benevolent,  not  to  have  left  an  impress  for  all 
time  upon  our  young  lives.  Our  school -boy  admiration  of  his  gifted 
mind  underwent  no  dissolution  when  years  brought  us  maturer  judg- 
ment and  larger  experience.  How  welcome  to  me,  as  one  of  his  early 
pupils,  the  word  that  often  came  of  the  increasing  reputation  in  his 
profession  conceded  to  him  by  impartial  minds  in  the  city  of  his 
adoption. 

The  interest  of  my  teacher  in  me  and  my  respect  for  him  ripened 
into  a  friendship  which  grew  stronger  with  the  years  and  continued 
until  death  called  him  away.  In  that  friendly  intimacy  I  knew  him 
as  few  have  known  him.  It  revealed  the  high  standard  of  rectitude 
which  he  set  for  himself  and  for  others,  the  moral  convictions  from 
which  he  would  not  be  shaken  at  any  cost,  the  clean  white  life  of  this 
noble  man.  One  distinctive  quality  characterized  him:  His  con- 
tempt for  dishonesty  in  any  form,  and  to  this  many  of  his  acts  and 
words  may  be  referred  for  their  explanation.  Scrupulously  upright 
himself,  he  expected  as  much  from  others.  Compromise  with  the 
faintest  semblance  of  dishonesty  was  abhorrent  to  him.  However 
much  his  heart  was  set  upon  an  object  worthy  of  honorable  ambition 
and  pursuit,  it  lost  its  value  to  him  if  it  must  be  gained  through  the 
devious  ways  of  truckling  to  men  of  baser  moral  fiber.  This  attitude, 
a  rebuke  to  others  who  were  wont  to  shade  their  acts  for  temporal 
gain,  brought  back  upon  him  the  common  charge  of  denounced  insin- 
cerity that  he  was  unpractical  and  "temperamentally  unfit."  He 
heroically  resented  the  unjust  imputation,  the  while  he  grew  in  the 
esteem  of  his  friends  who  appreciated  his  high  purposes  and  moral 
worth.  He  discerned  the  ignoble  in  others  to  shrink  from  it;  when  it 
became  obtrusive  he  unmasked  its  hollow  pretense.  This  trait  may 
not  have  brought  him  worldly  advancement;  dull  resignation  would 
have  earned  him  more;  but  this  sensitiveness  to  moral  lapse  in  others 
and  the  courage  to  rebuke  it  revealed  the  high  sense  of  uprightness 
and  honor  which  guided  his  own  life.  Because  of  this  he  may  have 
lost  the  complacent  regard  of  some,  but  never  their  respect.  The 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  105 

man  does  not  live  who  is  justified  in  tracing  his  ill-will  to  any  pretext 
that  would  imply  a  mean  or  dishonorable  act  on  the  part  of  James 
Mahoney.  When  one  recalls  his  passionate  love  of  justice  and  truth 
and  his  fearlessness  in  denouncing  hypocrisy,  in  any  portrayal  of  this 
character,  the  thought  comes  unbidden  which  pictures  him  of  heroic 
stature.  He  would  have  been  a  great  tribune  of  a  just  but  unpopular 
cause  if  his  life  had  been  cast  in  another  setting.  Death's  summons 
in  the  very  hour  when  he  had  come  into  his  own  may  have  seemed 
untimely,  but  it  has  in  it  the  comfort  that,  before  he  went  to  his  grave, 
his  great  talents  had  received  the  highest  measure  of  recognition  and 
that  at  last  his  dreams  of  years  had  come  true.  In  the  years  of  our 
friendship  the  many  proofs  of  his  kindness  towards  me  will  be  one  of 
the  sweetest  memories  of  my  life.  It  would  be  ungracious  for  me  to 
reveal  by  the  written  word  the  sacred  intimacy  of  the  friendship  which 
bound  us  together,  as  it  would  be  impertinent  for  me  to  speak  to  you 
of  that  sweet  home  life  in  which  you  knew  him  as  son  and  brother. 
James  Mahoney  was  a  Catholic  gentleman,  a  loyal  son  of  the 
Church  of  his  fathers.  It  was  a  source  of  pride  to  him  that  he  had 
taught  many  boys  who  in  later  life  had  consecrated  their  lives  to  the 
priesthood  of  his  faith.  The  struggling  poor  had  first  claim  upon  his 
deep  human  sympathies.  He  could  not  give  as  largely  as  he  would 
wish  of  material  goods,  but  without  counting  the  cost  of  personal 
sacrifice,  he  gave  generously  from  the  wealth  of  his  trained  mind. 
Hundreds  of  young  men  owe  to  this  good  and  great  man's  personal 
labors  and  counsel — and  that  gratuitously  outside  the  schoolroom — 
the  education  which  he  made  possible  for  them  and  the  careers 
towards  which  he  had  directed  and  aided  their  ambitions.  His 
social  life  was  cast  among  men  above  the  ordinary  in  education  and 
achievement.  When  the  time  was  his,  he  was  an  honored  guest  at 
exclusive  and  intellectual  gatherings.  In  such  circles  he  was  proud 
to  be  known  as  a  Catholic.  When  conversation  or  written  paper 
touched  upon  his  Church  he  ever  proved  himself  a  loyal  son  and 
champion.  For  the  honest  inquirer,  he  had  the  lucid  "reason  for  the 
faith  that  was  in  him";  for  the  unfair  critic,  the  strong  defense  or  the 
caustic  rebuke  upon  religious  bias.  His  conception  of  the  educated 
gentleman  went  beneath  the  exterior  of  polite  speech  and  action. 
With  him  education  was  a  misnomer  if  it  did  not  influence  for  good 
the  mind  and  the  heart  of  him  who  had  received  it.  He  expected 
such  a  man  to  be  freer  than  other  men  from  prejudice  and  hate. 
Religious  narrowness,  then,  in  an  educated  man  never  failed  to 
awaken  his  contempt  or  to  stir  him  to  brand  any  manifestation  of  it 
in  such  a  person  as  a  contradiction  to  the  claim  of  a  judicial  mind  or  of 
true  culture.  When  called  to  offer  service  for  his  Church  he  counted 
not  the  sacrifice  but  gave  to  her  the  best  of  his  great  gifts.  Who  ever 
heard  a  lecture  of  his  on  a  Catholic  subject  but  will  recall  the  earnest 


106  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

faith  that  inspired  his  words?  If  it  had  not  been  decreed  otherwise 
by  his  early  taking  off,  what  splendid  service  he  might  have  given  to 
his  Church  in  bringing  his  scholarship  to  the  exposition  of  her  teach- 
ings! In  this  lamentable  shortening  of  his  brilliant  career  and  in  the 
ending  of  the  promise  of  aid  which  his  future  held  out  for  them,  his 
fellow  Catholics  find  the  keenest  cause  for  sorrow. 

On  that  fatal  day  which  was  to  be  his  last  on  earth  as  he  planned 
for  his  return,  I  was  in  his  thoughts.  His  message  to  me  was  "Home- 
ward bound."  Since  that  day  how  often  have  these  words  come 
back  to  me.  They  will  ever  bring  me  consolation  as  in  vain  I  look 
for  the  coming  of  the  friend  whom  I  loved.  He  has  gone  to  the  eternal 
home  prepared  for  such  a  truly  noble  soul — homeward  bound  in  truth. 
Yours  sincerely, 

OWEN  M.  McGEE. 


PRINCIPAL'S  OFFICE,  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
WORCESTER,  MASS.,  June  9,  1886. 

To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

This  may  certify  that  Mr.  James  Mahoney  has  been  for  nearly  two 
years  a  teacher  in  this  school.  During  this  time  he  has  conducted, 
regularly,  recitations  in  Cicero,  Caesar,  Latin  and  Greek  Prose  Com- 
position and  Beginning  Greek.  Also  for  a  time  as  substitute  he  has 
done  excellent  work  in  Homer,  Herodotus  and  Anabasis.  In  every 
place  he  has  proven  himself  a  thorough  master.  I  should  have  no 
hesitation  in  recommending  him  for  any  position  that  he  would  be 
willing  to  undertake.  All  that  could  be  said  of  any  man  as  a  teacher, 
disciplinarian,  gentleman,  I  can  trustfully  say  of  him. 

ALFRED  S.  ROE, 

Principal. 


PRINCIPAL'S  OFFICE,  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
WORCESTER,  MASS.,  October  10,  1887. 

To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

Mr.  James  Mahoney  was  for  three  years  a  successful  teacher  in  this 
school.  His  work  was  in  Greek  and  Latin,  having  intrusted  to  his 
care  a  large  class  of  turbulent  boys.  His  success  in  imparting  knowl- 
edge and  securing  order  was  marked.  I  have  not  the  least  hesitation 
in  recommending  him  as  a  young  man  certain  to  succeed  in  whatever 
work  he  undertakes. 

ALFRED  S.  ROE, 

Principal. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  107 

Office  of 
SUPERINTENDENT  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

492  Main  Street 
WORCESTER,  MASS. 

November  1,  1887. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

This  will  certify  that  James  Mahoney  was  employed  in  the  High 
School  of  this  city  two  years.  He  is  a  young  man  of  excellent  char- 
acter, superior  scholarship,  and  an  earnest,  conscientious  teacher.  He 
may  be  relied  on  implicitly. 

Very  respectfully, 

A.  P.  MARBLE. 


WORCESTER,  MASS., 

August  11,  1888. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

This  may  certify  that  Mr.  James  Mahoney  was  a  successful  teacher 
in  our  High  School  for  three  years  and  is  cordially  recommended  by 
Yours  sincerely, 

WM.  T.  SOUTHER,  M.  D., 
Member  of  H.  S.  Committee. 

Office  of 
E.  WARNER,  M.  D. 

574  MAIN  STREET,  WORCESTER,  MASS., 

July  30,  1888. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

This  certifies  that  the  bearer,  James  Mahoney,  was  a  teacher  in  our 
High  School  for  several  terms  and  his  resignation  was  received  with 
regret. 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  I  visited  his  classes  many  times  and 
always  found  his  work  satisfactory.  He  is  a  young  man  of  refined 
manners,  scholarly  habits  and  a  good  disciplinarian.  Careful  and 
accurate  himself  he  seeks  to  make  of  his  pupil  an  accurate  scholar. 
He  is  cordially  commended  as  worthy  of  the  confidence  of  any  who 
may  wish  his  services. 

E.  WARNER. 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY,  BALTIMORE, 

August  13,  1888. 

This  is  to  certify  that  James  Mahoney,  of  North  Brookfield,  Mass., 
has  studied  for  one  year  in  the  graduate  department  of  History  and 
Politics  at  this  institution,  having  been  graduated  at  Amherst  Col- 


108  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

lege,  Massachusetts,  with  the  highest  honors.  He  has  done  excellent 
work  in  Baltimore  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  recommending  him  in 
the  strongest  terms  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  any  board  of 
college  trustees,  or  any  public  school  committee.  While  possessing 
remarkable  attainments  in  point  of  scholarship,  he  is  a  man  of  finest 
character  and  of  the  truest  spirit.  In  whatever  post  he  may  be 
placed  he  will  prove  himself  thoroughly  trustworthy.  I  take  great 
pleasure  in  giving  this  testimonial. 

H.  B.  ADAMS, 
In  charge  of  the  Department  of  History  and  Politics. 


JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY 
BALTIMORE,  MD. 

March  21,  1904. 
DEAR  SIR: 

Mr.  James  Mahoney  writes  to  me  that  he  is  a  candidate  for  a 
position  on  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Schools  in  the  city  of  Boston, 
and  he  asks  me  to  write  you  in  regard  to  him. 

Mr.  Mahoney  was  a  graduate  student  in  the  Johns  Hopkins  Uni- 
versity in  the  academic  year  1887-88.  During  that  time  he  attended 
the  following  courses: 

Under  Professor  H.  B.  Adams 
Seminary 
Ancient  Politics 
Church  History 
Prussia 

Renaissance  and  Reformation 
Under  Professor  R.  T.  Ely 

Finance 
Under  Dr.  Jameson 

England  and  France 
English  and  American  Constitutions 
Modern  Historians 
United  States  History,  1789-1793 
Greek  and  Roman  History 
Under  Professor  Emmott 

Historical  Jurisprudence  (English  Law) 
Under  Dr.  W.  Wilson 
Administration 

So  far  as  the  records  show  his  work  while  here  was  entirely  satis- 
factory. 

Yours  very  truly, 

IRA  REMSEN, 
President. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  109 

"The  best  teacher  is  the  one  who  suggests  rather  than  dogmatizes,  and  inspires  his 
listener  with  the  wish  to  teach  himself." — Bidwer-Lytton. 

APPLICATION  OF  JAMES  MAHONEY  FOR  A  POSITION  AS 
ASSISTANT  SUPERINTENDENT 

The  data  on  Mahoney's  equipment  as  a  teacher  are  so  well  stated 
in  the  document,  that  his  application  for  the  post  of  assistant  super- 
intendent of  schools  is  appended: 

EDUCATION 

5.  Public  Schools  of  North  Brookfield,  Mass.,  graduating  from 
High  School  1880. 

Amherst  College,  graduating  1884. 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  1887-1888. 

Sauveur  School  of  Languages,  1889. 

Certain  courses  in  Law  School  of  Boston  University,  1894. 

University  of  Berlin,  Germany,  1895-1896. 

STUDIES 

6.  Since  graduating  have  made  special  studies  in  the  subject  of 
History,  in  the  broad  sense  of  that  term,  pursuing  it  along  economic, 
social,  political,  legal  and  constitutional  (i.  e.  Civil  Government)  lines, 
at  Johns  Hopkins,  under  Professors  Herbert  B.  Adams,  J.  Franklin 
Jameson,  Woodrow  Wilson  and  George  H.  Emmott;   at  University 
of  Berlin,  under  Paulsen,  Dilthey,  Kohler,  Schmoller,  von  Treitscheke 
and  Wagner;    and  in  Boston,  under  the  general  direction  in  legal 
matters  of  Homer  Albers,  Esq. 

These  studies  have  made  it  necessary  to  become  familiar  with  the 
modern  languages,  particularly  German  and  French  (with  some 
knowledge  of  Italian  and  Spanish). 

Have  found  it  necessary  also  in  connection  with  work  in  teaching 
to  become  acquainted  with  the  modern  phases  of  educational  thought, 
and  in  this  connection  took  a  course  in  the  University  of  Berlin  under 
Professor  Stumpf  on  Educational  Psychology. 

SALARIES  RECEIVED 

7.  Employed  by  President  Julius  H.  Seelye  of  Amherst  College 
to  teach  his  daughter,  two  years  ($2  per  hour). 

Worcester  High  School,  three  years  ($1,300  was,  I  think,  salary- 
last  year  of  service). 

English  High  School,  Boston,  sixteen  years  (present  salary  $3,060). 

REFERENCES 

8.  Bishop  Thomas  J.  Conaty  (member  of  the  High  School  Com- 
mittee during  service  in  Worcester). 


110  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Rev.  John  J.  McCoy  (also,  formerly  of  Worcester  High  School 
Committee). 

President  George  Harris,  Amherst  College. 

Professor  Charles  E.  Garman,  Amherst  College. 

Professor  E.  P.  Crowell,  Amherst  College. 

Professor  D.  P.  Todd,  Amherst  College. 

Arthur  H.  Dakin,  Esq.,  Trustee  of  Amherst  College. 

Mr.  Ellis  Peterson,  recently  Supervisor  of  Boston  Public  Schools 
(in  charge  of  my  work  for  about  fourteen  years). 

Dr.  John  G.  Blake  (formerly  of  the  Boston  High  School  Com- 
mittee). 

Homer  Albers,  Esq.,  Professor  in  Boston  Law  School. 

Professor  Joseph  Kohler,  University  of  Berlin. 

GENERAL  AND  SPECIAL  STUDIES,  ETC. 

9.  In  Amherst  College,  took  a  general  course;  Natural  Science 
(including  Astronomy,  Physics,  Chemistry,  etc.),  Mathematics 
(including  Calculus,  differential  and  integral;  Quaternions,  mathe- 
matical electricity,  etc.),  and  the  Languages,  particularly,  Latin, 
Greek  and  German. 

Since  graduation  have  striven  to  make  my  studies  as  concrete  as 
possible,  e.  g.,  in  the  study  of  Civics,  have  striven  to  obtain  practical 
knowledge  as  well  as  theoretical  information;  while  in  Berlin,  for 
example,  frequently  visited  the  Prussian  Legislature  and  the  German 
Parliament;  in  my  legal  studies,  have  striven  to  acquire  a  knowledge 
of  the  laws  as  actually  administered,  as  well  as  a  knowledge  of  legal 
theory  and  legal  history;  and  hold  certificates  of  admission  to  the 
State  Bar  of  Massachusetts,  and  to  the  Bar  of  the  United  States  Cir- 
cuit Court;*  in  my  educational  studies,  have  striven,  not  only  to  get 
an  insight  into  the  science  of  education,  but  have  also  sought  to 
acquire  knowledge  of  the  different  methods  of  training  children,  e.  g., 
in  Berlin,  obtained  permission  from  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction 
to  visit  the  different  schools  of  that  city,  and  availed  myself  of  the 
privilege. 

In  Boston,  have  had  a  peculiar  opportunity  to  apply  such  knowl- 
edge, having  had  approximately  five  thousand  boys  in  the  Entering 
Class  of  the  English  High  School,  and  have  thus  also  had  exceptional 
personal  opportunity  to  study  the  results  obtained  in  the  Boston 
Secondary  Schools. 

Am  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society,  of  the  National 
Educational  Society  and  of  the  American  Historical  Association. 

See  page  at  end  of  chapter  for  list  of  societies  of  which  he  either  was 
or  had  been  a  member. 

*Was  later  admitted  to  the  Bar  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  111 

RECENT  TESTIMONIALS 

305  CHESTNUT  AVE.,  JAMAICA  PLAIN, 

October  3,  1903. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

I  carefully  observed  your  work  as  a  teacher  of  History  in  the  Eng- 
lish High  School,  and  am  glad  to  write  that  in  aim,  method,  and  result 
it  was,  in  my  opinion,  excellent. 

Wishing  you  continued  success  in  your  work,  I  remain 
Sincerely  yours, 

ELLIS  PETERSON. 


BOSTON,  February  27,  1904. 

To  THE  HONORABLE  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE, 

Mason  Street,  Boston. 
Gentlemen: 

The  undersigned  desire  to  present  for  your  consideration  the  appli- 
cation of  Mr.  James  Mahoney  as  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  your 
Board  of  Supervisors,  made  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Martin. 

Mr.  Mahoney  is  forty-two  years  of  age  and  has  been  for  twenty 
years  a  teacher.  His  early  training  was  in  the  schools  of  North 
Brookfield,  Massachusetts;  and  he  entered  Amherst  College  in  1880. 

While  in  college  he  took  prizes  for  best  work  in  Physics,  Astronomy 
and  Philosophy;  he  took  all  the  first  honors  in  the  department  of 
Greek,  and,  finally,  the  prize  for  the  best  production  on  the 
Commencement  stage.  He  was  in  the  same  college  class  with 
James  H.  Tufts,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  Chicago  University, 
Walter  F.  Wilcox,  Professor  of  Social  Science  and  Statist  in  Cornell 
University,  and  Chief  Statistician  of  the  United  States  Census, 
William  B.  Clark,  Professor  of  Geology  at  Johns  Hopkins,  Geologist 
of  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey  and  State  Geologist  of  Maryland,  and 
President  Guy  W.  Wadsworth  of  Occidental  College,  California.  Mr. 
Mahoney  received  his  degree  Magna  Cum  Laude  in  June,  1884.  He 
was  appointed  that  year  to  a  position  in  the  Worcester  High  School 
— a  school  which  rated  as  one  of  the  best  in  the  country.  Here  he 
remained  for  three  years.  Then,  desiring  to  fit  himself  for  higher 
service,  he  took  a  year  of  post-graduate  work  in  the  Historical  Depart- 
ment of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  Baltimore  under  the  charge 
of  the  late  Professor  Herbert  B.  Adams. 

He  came  to  Boston  in  1888,  and  accepted  a  position  in  the  English 
High  School.  Here  he  passed  through  the  various  grades  of  service: 
substitute,  temporary  teacher,  junior  master,  junior  master  on  permanent 
tenure,  and  now  for  several  years,  a  master. 


112  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

During  his  sixteen  years  of  service  in  the  English  High  School  he 
has  had  under  his  charge  approximately  five  thousand  young  men 
coming  direct  to  him  from  the  various  Grammar  Schools  of  this  city; 
and  he  has  always  insisted  on  good  behavior  and  upon  accuracy  and 
diligence  in  work. 

While  in  Germany  he  had  permission  to  visit  the  Gymnasia  and 
other  institutions  of  learning  in  that  city;  and  thus  he  familiarized 
himself  with  German  methods  in  secondary  education  and  with  the 
spirit  of  public  instruction  in  Germany. 

He  has  travelled  extensively  in  Europe  and  is  a  man  of  wide  expe- 
rience in  educational  methods  and  requirements  and  is  in  our  opinion 
a  man  eminently  qualified  in  scholarship  and  character  for  the  position 
to  be  filled  by  your  Honorable  Committee. 

Mr.  Mahoney's  work  has  been  valuable  especially  in  History  and 
Civil  Government.  Mr.  Mahoney  has  not  only  made  a  particular 
study  of  History,  with  unusual  advantages  for  a  man  in  the  public 
school  service,  but  he  has  also  devoted  himself  to  a  broad  study  of  the 
history  of  laws  and  constitutions,  and  is  at  the  present  time  a  member 
of  the  State  Bar  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States,  having  been  admitted  to  the  latter  by  Judge  Colt.  He 
is  thus  especially  qualified  to  take  up  with  advantage  and  to  develop 
the  work  begun  by  Mr.  Martin. 

Mr.  Mahoney  is  also  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society. 

We  trust  that  the  qualifications  thus  outlined  will  be  carefully  con- 
sidered by  you  in  the  selection  of  a  candidate  to  fill  this  most  impor- 
tant position.  We  believe  that  there  is  a  peculiar  opportunity  now 
presented  to  your  hand  to  improve  the  quality  of  the  instruction  in 
our  public  schools  and  we  know  of  no  other  man  who  would  put  as 
much  conscience,  energy  and  brain  into  that  work  as  Mr.  Mahoney. 

Very  respectfully, 

ROBERT  GRANT,  FRANCIS  H.  APPLETON, 

MRS.  J.  MONTGOMERY  SEARS,  MOORFIELD  STOREY, 

JAMES  JEFFREY  ROCHE,  J.  T.  COOLIDGE,  JR., 

WILLIAM  CALEB  LORINQ.  MAURICE  H.  RICHARDSON, 

MRS.  HENRY  PARKMAN,  MRS.  THOMAS  MACK, 

CHARLES  P.  PUTNAM,  HOMER  ALBERS, 

THOMAS  J.  GARGAN,  GEO.  M.  GARLAND, 

KATHERINE  E.  CONWAY,  ARTHUR  H.  DAKIN, 

CALEB  CHASE,  THOMAS  F.  GALVIN, 

MARY  E.  BLAKE,  P.  M.  KEATING, 

MRS.  HENRY  WHITMAN,  And  others. 
MRS.  ELIZABETH  STUART  PHELPS  WARD, 
HERBERT  D.  WARD, 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  113 

NEW  YORK  SHEPARD  NORWELL  COMPANY  PARIS 

Winter  Street  and  Temple  Place 

Cable  Address  "Shepnorwell" 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  April  7,  1904. 
To  THE  HONORABLE  SCHOOL  COMMITTEE, 

Mason  Street,  Boston. 
Gentlemen: 

I  regret  very  much  that  I  was  not  in  the  city  to  sign  Mr.  Mahoney's 
petition,  and  add  my  name  to  this  list  of  gentlemen,  but  I  think  Mr. 
Mahoney  would  be  a  good  acquisition  if  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy 
now  existing  on  the  Board  of  Supervisors. 
Very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  SHEPARD. 


Mr.  James  Mahoney  was  graduated  from  Amherst  College  with 
the  class  of  1884,  a  class  conspicuous  for  its  brilliant  men,  and  for 
the  prominent  part  they  have  taken  for  twenty  years  in  matters  per- 
taining to  the  welfare  of  the  College.  This  class  has  been  a  leader  in 
almost  every  good  work.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  state  that  Mr. 
Mahoney  was  one  of  the  brilliant  men  of  that  class.  He  was  grad- 
uated with  honor  and  selected  on  the  basis  of  rank  as  one  of  the 
speakers  on  the  Commencement  stage.  He  won  the  Bond  prize  for 
excellence  in  his  Commencement  address. 

As  a  student,  Mr.  Mahoney  attained  the  highest  success.  Presi- 
dent Seelye  often  spoke  to  me  in  glowing  terms  of  his  work.  It  is  my 
conviction  that  he  richly  deserves  the  high  praise  that  he  received. 
He  was  thorough,  faithful,  always  ready.  He  thought  for  himself 
and  would  not  rest  until  he  had  solved  his  problem.  As  a  man  he 
enjoys  the  highest  confidence  of  the  Faculty  and  of  his  classmates. 

Of  his  work  since  graduation,  I  do  not  need  to  speak.  "He  who 
runs  may  read." 

He  is  a  man  of  the  highest  moral  principles,  completely  devoted  to 
his  work,  and  has  a  persistence  and  energy  as  well  as  reserve  power 
that  makes  his  success  assured  from  the  start. 

I  understand  that  he  is  a  candidate  for  Supervisor  of  Schools  in 
Boston.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  testify  to  the  splendid  qualifications 
which  he  possesses  for  such  work.  He  will  bring  with  him  to  that 
task  indefatigable  energy,  judicial  poise,  clearest  insight,  and  the 
wisdom  gained  from  the  long  experience  of  a  successful  teacher. 
Respectfully, 

CHAS.  E.  GARMAN, 
Professor  of  Philosophy. 
AMHERST  COLLEGE, 
March  26,  1904. 


114  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

AMHERST  COLLEGE 

DEPARTMENT  OF  LATIN 

AMHERST,  MASS. 

Mr.  James  Mahoney,  of  the  class  of  1884  in  this  College,  ranked  in 
scholarship  among  the  first  four  in  his  class. 

Of  his  intellectual  ability  and  of  the  qualities  of  his  character  while 
he  was  a  member  of  College,  I  have  a  distinct  recollection.  With  his 
subsequent  career  as  a  teacher  I  have  also  had  some  acquaintance. 

In  my  judgment,  he  is  exceedingly  well  equipped  in  every  respect 
for  the  position  of  Supervisor  of  Schools,  for  which  office  I  under- 
stand he  is  a  candidate. 

E.  P.  CROWELL. 
March  22,  1904. 

AMHERST  COLLEGE 
DEPARTMENT  OF  BIOLOGY 

MASS. 


AMHERST,  March  23,  1904. 

I  remember  Mr.  Mahoney  very  distinctly  as  a  student  in  Amherst 
College.  I  knew  him  as  a  young  man  of  firm  and  strong  character, 
high  principles  and  aims  and  of  earnest  purpose.  He  was  always 
courteous  and  gentlemanly  and  well  liked  and  highly  respected  by  his 
classmates  and  teachers. 

He  was  a  first-class  scholar,  a  man  of  clear  thought,  perseverence, 
industry  and  of  sound  judgment.  He  carried  through  what  he  under- 
took and  did  not  flounder.  He  had  a  sound  mind  and  plenty  of 
common  sense. 

Men  of  that  stamp  and  stuff  generally  improve  as  they  grow  older, 
and  I  doubt  not  that  Mr.  Mahoney  has  fulfilled  the  promises  of  his 
college  life.  I  shall  be  greatly  surprised  if  he  has  not  steadily  main- 
tained his  former  high  standard  of  work  and  life. 

JOHN  M.  TYLER, 
AMHERST  COLLEGE.  Professor  of  Biology. 

COPIES  OF  TESTIMONIALS 

FILED  WITH   BOARD  OF  SUPERVISORS 

BEFORE  BEGINNING  SERVICE  IN 

BOSTON,  1888 

No.  104  August  21,  1888. 

PERSONAL  RECORD. 

1.  The  date  of  this  examination  is  Aug.  21,  1888. 

2.  My  number  is  104. 

3.  I  apply  for  a  first  grade  certificate. 

4.  My  place  of  birth  is  Hardwick,  Mass. 

5.  My  age  is  twenty-six  years  and  three  months. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  115 

6.  I  have  spent  the  greater  part  of  my  life  in  North  Brookfield, 
Mass. 

7.  I  was  educated  in   the  public  schools  of  North  Brookfield, 
Amherst  College  and  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

8.  I  completed  the  course  of  study  at  Amherst  College. 

9.  I  travelled  in  Europe  the  summer  of  1885,  spending  most  of  my 
time  in  Germany.     This  gave  new  life  to  my  studies  in  many  ways. 
The  past  year  I  lived  with  a  German  family  in  Baltimore  and  so 
extended  the  practice  which  I  got  in  that  language  abroad. 

10.  My  reading  till  within  a  few  years  was  quite  general;    but  I 
have  read  more  works  of  classic  English  and  of  History  than  of  other 
subjects. 

11.  (1)  I  have  devoted  special  attention  to  Political  Economy  and 
History  the  past  year  or  two,  but  in  college  my  course  was  general. 

(2)  I  think  I  am  best  qualified  to  teach  the  languages  or  History. 

(3)  I  have  chosen  History  and  Historical  Geography  as  my  "elective." 

12.  (1)  I  taught  school  (2)  for  three  years  (3)  in  Worcester,  Mass. 

(4)  in  the  Worcester  High  School  (4)  having  pupils  in  the  second  and 
third  years  of  their  course.     (5)  My  entire  time  was  passed  in  the 
High  School.     (6)  I  was  not  the  only  teacher;    I  was  an  assistant. 
(7)  My  teaching  was  special,  being  mainly  Latin  and  Greek;  although, 
since  I  had  charge  of  a  room,  I  had  also  Rhetoricals  and  some  Mathe- 
matics.    (8)  I  am  not  engaged  at  present.     (9)  If  I  receive  a  certifi- 
cate I  shall  at  once  be  available  for  as  good  a  position  as  the  Com- 
mittee deem  me  worthy. 

13.  (1)  Pres.  J.  M.  Seelye,  Amherst,  Mass. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Adams,  Baltimore,  Md. 

(2)  George  Swan,  Esq.,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Supt.  A.  P.  Marble,  Worcester,  Mass. 

(3)  Dr.  Warren  Tyler,  North  Brookfield,  Mass. 


AMHERST,  August  2,  1886. 

Mr.  James  Mahoney  was  graduated  at  Amherst  in  the  class  of  '84 
and  was  the  best  scholar  in  his  class.  He  was  good  in  all  the  depart- 
ments and  excelled  especially  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  Classics.  He 
took  the  Hutchins  Prize  for  the  highest  excellence  as  a  Greek  scholar. 
He  was  gentlemanly  in  manners,  exemplary  in  his  whole  conduct  and 
without  reproach  in  his  moral  and  religious  character.  Since  his 
graduation  he  has  taught  with  the  greatest  success  in  the  Worcester 
High  School.  It  is  his  purpose,  I  believe,  to  make  teaching  his  life 
work,  and  I  anticipate  for  him  the  highest  success  in  that  profession. 

W.  S.  TYLER, 
Professor  of  Greek. 


116  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

AMHERST  COLLEGE, 

MR.  W.  E.  HATCH,  July  11,  1884. 

My  dear  Sir: 

Your  note  of  inquiry  concerning  Mr.  James  Mahoney  is  at  hand. 
It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  give  him  a  very  strong  recommendation, 
both  in  scholarship  and  character.  One  is  so  often  asked  for  a  recom- 
mendation where  cautiousness  of  utterance  is  painfully  essential  that 
it  is  agreeable — because  so  rare — to  be  asked  about  a  young  graduate 
who  is  so  brilliant  a  scholar  and  so  fine  in  his  manhood  as  Mahoney. 
He  is  one  of  the  finest  scholars  in  Greek  I  have  ever  graduated  and  I 
believe  has  the  same  record  in  Latin.  He  is  faithful  and  reliable  in 
every  way,  and  has  coupled  with  these  qualities  a  certain  quiet 
enthusiasm  which  as  a  teacher  must  prove  infectious.  In  character 
and  manliness  too  he  is  all  that  you  could  wish.  Unlike  his  race,  he 
is  not  mercurial  in  temperament,  but  calm,  judicious  and  well  bal- 
anced. If  you  have  a  good  place  for  such  a  person  I  hope  you  will 
give  it  to  him,  for  I  feel  confident  you  will  find  him  a  prize.  This 
view  here  presented,  I  think  would  be  endorsed  by  our  Faculty,  but 
most  of  them  are  out  of  town  and  so  cannot  speak. 
Yours  very  truly, 

R.  H.  MATHER. 

P.  S. — Mr.  Mahoney  closed  his  course  by  taking  the  Bond  prize  of 
$100  for  the  best  efforts  on  the  Commencement  stage. 

GEO.  G.  PARKER,  ESQ.,  NORTH  BROOKFIELD, 

Milford,  Mass.  July  10,  1884. 

Dear  Sir: 

Mr.  James  Mahoney  informs  me  that  he  is  an  applicant  for  the 
position  of  principal  teacher  in  your  High  School,  and  wishes  me  to 
express  to  you  my  opinion  of  his  qualifications  for  the  place  and  his 
general  character  and  standing  in  this  community.  It  gives  me  great 
pleasure  to  comply  with  his  request.  Mr.  Mahoney  has  lived  in  this 
town  from  his  childhood;  has  attended  the  several  grades  of  our 
schools,  graduating  from  our  High  School  with  high  honor  and  enter- 
ing at  once  on  a  collegiate  course  at  Amherst,  where  he  maintained  a 
high  standing,  graduating  this  year  with  most  distinguished  honor. 
During  his  collegiate  course  he  was  awarded  more  literary  prizes  than 
were  received  by  any  other  member  of  his  class, — in  all  $265.  His 
moral  character  is  above  reproach,  and  nothing  more  need  be  said 
about  it.  Mr.  Mahoney  does  not  know  the  contents  of  this  letter,  or 
what  my  opinion  of  him  is.  I  believe  he  will  fulfill  all  the  require- 
ments of  the  position  he  seeks.  If  anything  I  have  stated  shall  aid 
him  in  obtaining  it  I  think  the  benefit  will  be  yours  as  well  as  his. 
Yours  very  respectfully, 

CHAS.  ADAMS,  JR. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  117 

NORTH  BROOKFIELD, 

August  20,  1888. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

The  bearer,  James  Mahoney,  of  this  town  I  have  known  from  child- 
hood and  had  he  not  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  Quack  would  have  been 
a  good  physical  specimen.  He  has  since  his  recovery  been  well  and 
I  consider  him  sound.  He  is  of  good  repute  in  morals  and  integrity 
and  I  believe  a  worthy  young  man. 

WARREN  TYLER,  M.  D. 

In  college  he  was  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa.  In  after  life, 
among  the  prominent  associations  and  societies  of  which  he  was  a 
member  are: 

The  National  Educational  Society, 

The  American  Historical  Association, 

Catholic  Alumni  Sodality, 

Catholic  Literary  Union, 

University  Club, 

Bostoner  Deutsche  Gesellschaft, 

Salon  Francais  de  Boston, 

South  Boston  Trade  Association, 

South  Boston  Citizens'  Association, 

Amherst  College  Boston  Club, 

Public  School  Art  League, 

The  Johns  Hopkins  University  Club  of  New  England, 

The  Alumni  Association  of  Harvard  Universiy, 

The  Alumni  Association  of  Amherst  College, 

The  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education, 

The  English  Council, 

The  Amateurs, 

The  American  School  Peace  League, 

The  Boston  Home  and  School  Association, 

The  Drama  League  of  Boson, 

An  Associate  Member  of  the  Ninth  Regiment, 

Boston  Teachers'  Club, 

While  in  Washington  he  was  a  member  of  the  Cosmos  Club, 

The  Home  Club, 

He  formerly  belonged  to  the  Twentieth  Century  Club, 

The  Unity  Art  Club, 

The  Society  of  Arts  and  Crafts, 

The  Italian  Club, 

The  American  Irish  Historical  Association. 


CHAPTER  VI 

"  To  live  in  honor,  to  work  with  steadfast  industry,  to  endure  with 
cheerful  patience,  is  to  be  victorious" 

"Not  in  rewards,  but  in  the  strength  to  strive, 
The  blessing  lies" 

— John  Townsend  Trowbridge. 

"  Who  would  not  die  in  the  fire, 
With  his  soul  purged  clear  for  his  God, 
Than  to  live  with  his  soul,  in  the  mire, 
And  to  rot,  without  soul,  in  the  sod?" 

— James  Mahoney. 


"  Strong  grows  the  oak  in  the  sweeping  storm; 

Safely  the  flower  sleeps  under  the  snow; 
And  the  farmer's  hearth  is  never  warm 
Till  the  cold  wind  starts  to  blow." 

"  Day  will  return  with  a  fresher  boon; 

God  will  remember  the  world! 

Night  will  come  with  a  newer  moon; 

God  will  remember  the  world!" 

—J.  G.  Holland. 

TEACHER  OF  HISTORY,  1888-1907 

James  Mahoney  went  to  the  Boston  English  High  School  as  sub- 
stitute teacher,  September  5,  1888,  and  he  resigned  on  April  1,  1907, 
with  the  grade  of  master.  The  fidelity  of  his  service  it  would  be 
impossible  not  to  recognize,  for  he  played  a  useful  part  in  the  training 
of  thousands  who  are  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  city.  A  career 
which  is  a  constant  application  of  deeply  grounded  principles  has 
charm, — "It  represents  a  successful  experiment  in  the  great  art  of 
life."  It  was  in  his  diligence  on  lines  marked  out  for  himself  and  in 
the  regard  won  from  so  many  of  his  pupils  that  Mahoney  found 
compensation  when  the  burdensome  years  seemed  more  than  he 
could  carry. 

The  auspices  were  nothing  if  not  favorable  when  he  entered  upon 
his  work  in  Boston.  He  was  twenty-six,  and  with  that  combination 
of  courage  and  vision  that  will  take  a  man  over  life's  rough  places. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  119 

The  three  years  of  teaching  in  the  Worcester  High  School  he  had 
regarded  only  as  preparation,  and,  with  forethought  unusual  in  young 
men  already  settled  in  a  vocation,  he  had  devoted  a  year  to  graduate 
study  at  Johns  Hopkins.  A  wiser  move  could  hardly  have  been  made. 
He  had  come  into  direct  contact  with  a  brilliant  group  of  instructors. 
In  history,  in  political  science,  and  in  jurisprudence  he  had  had  the 
advantage  of  schooling  under  the  careful  direction  of  Herbert  B. 
Adams,  of  Richard  T.  Ely,  and  of  Woodrow  Wilson.  And  the 
opportunity  had  been  faithfully  improved.  English  High  had 
gained  a  competent,  purposeful  teacher,  and  to  those  who  knew  him 
there  can  be  no  doubt  of  his  pleasure  over  the  appointment.  As 
a  free  public  school  it  had  good  rank.  Boys  came  from  all  parts 
of  the  rapidly  growing  city,  usually  from  the  more  enterprising 
families.  It  met  the  need  of  the  large  class  between  the  poor  or  the 
indifferent  and  those  who  sent  their  youth  to  paid  schools.  English 
High  was  conducted  primarily  for  boys  who  were  going  directly  into 
business  employment  or  who  would  enter  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology  at  the  end  of  the  third  year  and  not  undertake  prepa- 
ration for  college.  The  proportion  going  to  Harvard  was  small,  and 
any  fitting  in  the  classics  was  for  that  reason  confined  to  individual 
cases,  and  usually  in  the  fourth  year.  At  the  Boston  Latin  School, 
in  another  wing  of  the  same  building,  there  was  more  emphasis  on 
college  entrance,  and  English  High  was  free  to  follow  the  excellent 
aim  of  those  who  established  it  in  1821.  A  school,  then,  where  boys 
of  fifteen  to  eighteen  were  given  sound  training  for  ordinary  pursuits 
was  James  Mahoney's  broadening  opportunity.  His  use  of  his  talent 
and  wherein  he  was  distinguished  above  other  men  in  the  same 
calling  it  is  my  object  to  point  out. 

I  was  not  personally  in  touch  with  Mahoney  during  the  first  years 
of  his  service  in  Boston,  but  he  could  not  have  changed  greatly  from 
twenty -six  to  thirty-one,  and  my  boyish  impression  in  1893  was  dis- 
tinctly of  a  forceful,  alert  instructor,  whose  habits  had  become  fixed, 
and  whose  thought  was  seasoned.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fall  term, 
perhaps  on  the  day  following  registration,  it  was  customary  to 
assemble  the  boys  in  the  exhibition  hall  and  assign  them  their  rooms. 
I  was  among  those  sent  to  Room  3  in  charge  of  Mahoney.  He  called 
our  names,  scanning  each  face  as  he  read  the  cards,  he  carried  out 
the  petty  details  of  issuing  books  and  supplies,  he  assigned  a  lesson, 
he  gave  us  friendly  counsel  at  dismissal, — throughout  we  observed 
that  quiet  determination  and  abrupt  address  that  were  blended 
in  a  manner  so  peculiarly  his  own.  We  measured  our  man  as  fifteen- 
year  olds  will,  and  there  was  no  encouragement  for  cutting  loose 
while  he  was  in  the  chair.  On  the  other  hand  we  knew  instinctively 
there  had  to  be  prompt  compliance  with  his  directions,  or  a  clash 
with  authority.  Years  before,  in  his  application  for  a  Boston 


120  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

position,  Mahoney  had  stated  that  his  lameness,  in  his  opinion,  did 
not  interfere  with  his  teaching.  He  was  right.  As  I  look  back  upon 
the  year  I  was  in  his  room  it  is  not  his  lameness  I  think  of  first.  True, 
we  noticed  his  slow  progress  up  the  stairs  or  along  the  corridor,  but 
there  was  no  sign  of  weariness  about  it.  Clearly  he  would  have  been 
a  splendid  physical  specimen  but  for  the  accident  of  boyhood,  and 
such  vigor  did  he  show  and  such  respect  did  he  instil  that  I  do  not 
recall  a  single  occasion  when  a  room  in  his  charge  was  not  under 
excellent  control.  Although  a  man  of  positive  views  on  politics  and 
with  a  definite  religious  creed  he  was  scrupulously  careful  not  to 
impose  opinions  on  his  pupils.  I  remember  I  felt  a  certain  mystery 
about  what  his  opinions  were,  and  I  suppose  the  very  fact  they  were 
not  disclosed  attracted  me  and  gave  this  rugged  teacher  of  history  a 
part  of  his  charm.*  He  would  throw  out  suggestions  and  then  drive 
us  to  the  wall  with  his  searching  questions,  but  at  the  end  it  was  Greek 
or  Roman  history  we  were  considering  and  guess  as  we  might  we  could 
not  discover  his  personal  bias  toward  Mr.  Cleveland,  Mr.  Altgeld,  or 
"General"  Coxey;  neither  could  we  elicit  his  views  of  the  Know- 
nothingism  of  the  day;  but  we  had  only  to  ask  exactly  why  it  was  men 
tired  of  hearing  Aristides  called  the  Just  and  we  got  a  clear-cut  answer, 
in  detail,  straight  to  the  point. 

Years  afterward,  in  one  of  the  reports  he  prepared  for  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Education  (1914),  Mahoney  re-stated  some  of  the  peda- 
gogical beliefs  that  were  frequently  impressed  upon  us  in  the  class- 
room. He  emphasized  the  value  of  personality.  "The  vital  prin- 
ciple of  the  Republic"  was  his  phrase;  and  how  he  made  it  glow! 
In  youth  there  must  be  encouraged  "  individual  power  of  self -support, 
self-reliance,  self-control,"  and  habitual  working  together  for  the 
common  welfare.  "Are  teachers  skilled,"  he  asked,  "in  culture  of 
adolescent  talent,  through  insight,  sympathy,  kindness,  and  affection?" 
And  James  Mahoney  faithfully  carried  out  his  tenets  just  so  far  as 
opportunity  and  the  limitations  of  his  pupils  would  permit.  Like 

*  Apropos  of  this  characteristic  of  withholding  opinions,  except  on  a  proper 
occasion,  the  following  extract  from  a  composition  by  Mahoney,  when  a  pupil  in  the 
North  Brookfield  High  School,  indicates  that  it  was  not  merely  taciturnity,  but  a 
deliberately  chosen  rule  of  life: 

"In  all  your  intercourse  and  communication  with  men,  friends  and  foes  alike,  be 
thoroughly,  wholly  and  originally  yourself.  Draw  back  within  yourself;  sink  down 
deep  into  yourself.  This  is  not  hypocrisy,  it  is  self-control. 

"Do  not  expose  the  tender  emotions  of  your  heart,  what  you  love  and  cherish,  to  the 
rough  storms  of  existence,  to  the  winds  of  opinion,  to  jeers  and  sneers,  thus  losing  the 
respect  of  others,  and  your  own  also. 

"  In  a  country  like  yours  there  will  be  of  necessity  much  tearing  down  of  old  land- 
marks; much  changing  of  opinions;  many  conflicts  of  ideas.  But  I  entreat  you  to 
remain  firm  amidst  it  all.  It  is  in  the  struggle  between  great  minds  that  a  man  of  little 
self  shows  his  true  colors  in  taking  advantage  of  it  by  having  no  opinion  at  all  upon  it." 

NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  121 

Jowett  of  Balliol  he  was  out  to  strengthen  their  mental  fibre, — "the 
chief  thing  is  the  desire  to  work." 

I  wish  I  were  able  to  pay  the  tribute  Mahoney  deserved  for  his  work 
as  teacher.  I  should  like  to  describe  him  as  he  revealed  himself  to 
his  pupils,  but  it  would  take  a  facile  pen  suitably  to  convey  to  others 
the  qualities  that  lifted  him  out  of  the  commonplace.  He  was  stim- 
ulating in  the  best  sense,  genuinely  interested  in  boys  and  their 
possibilities,  and  I  can  remember  many  instances  where  this  quality 
was  vividly  brought  out.  By  the  ordering  of  the  school  in  those 
years  his  scope  was  confined  to  Greek  and  Roman  history  for  the  two 
hundred  fifty  or  more  boys  in  the  Third  (or  First  Year)  Class,  includ- 
ing the  forty  assigned  to  his  particular  charge.  German  was  listed 
as  one  of  Mahoney's  other  subjects,  but  little  or  no  opportunity  for 
it  was  given.  History  was  his  subject;  in  his  application  for  a  posi- 
tion in  the  Boston  schools  he  had  chosen  history  and  historical 
geography  as  his  "elective,"  and  after  doing  "the  hard  general  drudg- 
ery" which  was  regularly  required  of  the  newer  members  of  the 
teaching  corps,  it  was  Ancient  History  that  was  granted  him. 

For  the  First  Year  Class  there  was  but  one  text-book,— P.  V.  N. 
Myers's  A  General  History.  To  most  of  us  it  seemed  needless  to 
carry  a  book  three  inches  thick  when  only  two  hundred  out  of  the 
seven  hundred  fifty  pages  were  covered  in  the  year's  instruction,  but 
however  that  may  have  been,  somebody  wiser,  or  more  interested, 
than  we,  had  decreed  that  Myers's  should  be  the  sole  general  history 
text -book  for  the  entire  school.  A  teacher  in  the  Third  Year  Class 
went  so  far  as  to  tell  his  pupils  to  put  the  book  in  the  far  corner  of  their 
desks  and  not  take  it  out  until  the  end  of  the  year.  Mahoney  had 
no  admiration  for  the  book,  but  it  was  prescribed  and  furnished  by 
the  authorities,  and  he  had  a  conscience  about  the  duty  owed  the 
public  and  the  public  representatives.  He  used  the  book,  believing 
it  to  be  a  good  enough  skeleton  around  which  to  drape  the  fabric  of 
Greek  or  Roman  history.  A  given  number  of  Myers's  topics  was  pre- 
scribed, and  on  that  basis  we  recited,  in  the  first  instance.  Very 
soon,  however,  there  were  intimations  as  to  the  amount  of  inde- 
pendent work  that  would  be  acceptable.  We  were  directed  to  use 
maps  and  we  had  class  drill  in  geography.  No  pupil  was  ever  allowed 
to  slide  over  a  pronunciation;  he  was  required  to  say  and  say  again 
until  his  rendering  was  satisfactory.  And  for  a  failure  in  recitation 
there  followed  swiftly  an  irksome  penalty, — five  copies  of  Myers's 
remarks  on  the  topic.  Who  could  forget  a  lesson  thus  re-assigned? 
Or,  after  such  drill,  who  could  mispronounce  Achaia  or  Bosotia? 
But  that  was  by  no  means  all.  We  were  asked  to  bring  in  reports  of 
our  reading,  and  on  the  points  raised  there  was  general  discussion. 
And  now  and  again  on  a  fortnight's  notice  there  were  short  debates, — 
say  on  the  merits  of  the  Athenian  constitution.  I  recall  such  a 


122  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

debate  on  the  motives  of  Decius  Brutus,  and  whether  Shakespeare 
had  done  him  justice.  Mahoney  was  always  eager  to  set  us 
forward,  to  rouse  in  us  a  scholarly  interest.  Ploetz's  Epitome, 
Creasy 's  Decisive  Battles,  Freeman's  Historical  Geography  of  Europe, 
and  other  manuals — his  own  property  by  the  way — were  on  his 
desk  and  open  to  all.  In  study  hours  we  were  encouraged  to  draw 
upon  the  reference  library,  provided  our  previous  carriage  had  en- 
titled us  to  such  consideration !  What  a  treat  it  was  to  take  down  one 
at  a  time  the  stately  volumes  of  Lavisse  et  Rambaud!  Or  at  another 
time  to  be  invited  to  the  desk  to  read  an  account  of  the  battle  of 
Zama  in  French!  Mahoney  interested  himself  in  each  individual 
boy,  gleaned  from  him  in  casual  but  amiable  conversation  not  alone 
his  racial  extraction,  but  his  ambitions  and  attitude  toward  further 
schooling.  A  characteristic  bit  came  out  in  one  of  his  controversies, 
and  here  I  let  him  speak  for  himself. 

.  .  .  I  do  not  wish  to  be  restricted  to  an  arbitrary  limit.  If,  for  instance, 
John  Bartholomew  Devitt  cannot  understand  Greek  art,  but  does  have  some  con- 
ception of  what  a  battle  means,  shall  I  leave  out  a  good  account  of  the  battle 
of  Marathon,  and  give  John  a  description  of  a  fragment  of  sculpture  by  Praxiteles? 
We  have  had  a  very  hard  time  with  John,  and  it  is  a  very  important  question  for 
him,  and  it  lies  at  the  basis  of  my  conception  of  history  work,  namely :  to  study 
the  individual  boys  with  the  greatest  possible  care  and  find  out  what  it  is  that  will 
arouse  their  interests  and  their  minds;  to  go  as  fast  as  the  particular  set  of  boys 
that  I  am  dealing  with  can  go  with  profit,  and  no  faster.  Mr.  X  said,  "  Don't  you 
think  that  the  divisions  are  near  enough  alike  to  have  them  all  cover  the  same 
amount  of  ground?"  I  replied,  "Mr.  X,  I  say  to  myself,  when  I  think  that  two 
boys,  even,  are  near  enough  alike  to  cover  the  same  amount  of  ground,  that  I 
don't  understand  the  boys." 

A  boy  who  shyly  admitted  he  was  receiving  parts  of  the  Congres- 
sional Record  Mahoney  would  invite  to  pursue  some  interesting 
subject  his  reading  had  brought  outand  perhaps  prepare  a  written  exer- 
cise for  the  benefit  of  the  class.  Once  it  was  to  compare  the  agrarian 
policies  of  Spurius  Cassius  with  our  American  homestead  law.  And 
he  would  lose  no  opportunity  to  emphasize  the  value  of  an  active 
interest  in  current  politics.  It  was  the  traditional  attitude  of  the 
teachers  to  regard  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  and  the 
Boston  Public  Library  as  the  two  institutions  supplementary  to 
English  High,  and  so  far  as  the  Library  was  concerned  the  tradition 
suffered  not  at  all  in  Mahoney's  keeping.  At  one  of  the  early  meet- 
ings of  the  New  England  History  Teachers  Association,  the  subject 
of  discussion  being  "Text-Books  and  Methods  of  Teaching  History," 
Mahoney  seems  to  have  used  some  plain  language. 

After  a  number  of  addresses  had  been  made  on  the  subject  by  prominent 
members  of  the  association,  I  asked  for  leave  to  say  a  word,  and  declared  that  in 
my  opinion  a  teacher  who  had  not  mastered  his  subject  and  was  not  familiar  with 
<///  the  methods  of  teaching  it,  and  who  was  not  capable,  when  placed  face  to  face 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  123 

with  a  concrete  boy,  with  his  special  needs  and  difficulties,  who  was  not  capable 
then  of  casting  his  methods  to  the  winds,  and  helping  that  boy  where  he  needed 
help,  was  not  fit  to  teach  the  subject;  and  as  for  text-books,  why  was  it  necessary 
to  bind  the  souls  of  teachers  with  them?  If  we  had  overcome  tyrants  in  other 
things,  why  was  it  necessary  to  fall  down  and  worship  the  Text  Book? 

Elsewhere  in  his  papers,  Mahoney  left  the  statement  that  he  had 
always  been  devoted  to  his  pupils  and  to  his  studies,  and  that  he 
gave  all  his  time  to  his  work.  I  believe  that  to  be  as  nearly  the  literal 
truth  as  in  the  case  of  any  teacher  I  ever  knew.  His  pupils,  his  school, 
were  to  him  both  wife  and  child  those  earlier  years  of  his  service;  his 
heart  and  his  enthusiasm  were  engrossed  in  his  daily  employment. 
That  I  am  obliged  to  set  a  limit  in  point  of  time  to  this  refreshing 
period  will  presently  appear,  later  in  the  chapter,  and  I  shall  be  par- 
doned, I  am  sure,  for  choosing  to  dwell  a  bit  longer  on  the  first  six  or 
seven  years,  a  time  not  only  encouraging  to  Mahoney  himself,  but  a 
time  when  in  considerable  measure  his  efforts  were  unfettered. 

His  lameness  I  have  already  said  was  lost  sight  of  once  he  took 
charge  of  the  class-room,  and  it  only  increased  our  respect  for  his 
virile  qualities.  The  boys  quickly  noted  the  ease  with  which  he 
would  pull  himself  up  a  high  step,  as  on  boarding  a  street  car,  and 
there  were  tales  of  wonderful  feats  he  had  performed  with  weights. 
I  do  not  know  whether  these  accounts  were  more  than  boyish  gossip, 
but  in  years  since  I  have  seen  him  manage  a  refractory  horse,  and 
there  is  no  end  of  testimony  to  his  great  physical  endurance.  Holmes 
Field,  in  Cambridge,  or  even  Newton  Centre,  was  not  too  far  for  him 
to  go  to  see  a  twenty -minute  game  where  some  of  "my  boys"  were 
playing  good  football.  He  was  particularly  constant  at  track  meet- 
ings. In  those  days  Tom  Burke,  as  an  E.  H.  S.  boy,  was  doing  the 
600-yard  dash  in  1  m.  20  2/5s.  and  "Mike"  O'Brien,  another  of 
Mahoney's  pupils,  was  able  to  put  the  16  Ib.  shot  38  ft.  2  in.  In  all 
such  exploits  Mahoney  took  the  keenest  enjoyment,  although  there 
was  never  any  undue  reference  in  the  class-room. 

In  fact,  pandering  of  any  sort  was  entirely  out  of  keeping  with 
Mahoney's  ideals  of  teaching.  There  was  plenty  of  cheap  badinage 
in  some  quarters,  but  none  of  it  came  from  him.  Being  at  school  was 
important  business,  and  we  were  usually  mindful  of  the  hour.  The 
hapless  boy  who  sought  to  try  him  out  soon  got  his  due.  "Twelve 
copies  of  the  general  rules,  sir,  by  nine  o'clock  on  Monday!"  And 
the  first  laborious  copy  had  to  be  made  standing,  for  the  rules  were 
posted  inside  the  glass  door  of  the  book-case!  No  slipshod  copies 

were  acceptable.  "Come,  M ,  get  a  shovel,  will  you?  and  clean 

up  this  paper."  By  other  teachers  on  the  staff  this  practice  on 
Mahoney's  part  was  made  much  of,  the  waste  of  ink,  and  so  on, — 
men  who  were  themselves  apt  to  be  prodigal  with  the  city's  time, — 
but  could  any  one  dispute  the  disciplinary  value  of  Mahoney's  pet 
corrective? 


124  JAMES   MAHOXEY   MEMORIAL 

He  was  also  patient,  and  scrupulous  about  holding  up  to  ridicule 
the  dull  and  stupid  who  always  seep  in  for  the  entering  class.  "Brace 

up,  S ,"  he  would  say  brusquely  but  with  good  humor,  "you  don't 

want  that  good  mother  of  yours  deciding  you'd  better  be  improving 

your  time  on  a  tip-cart,"  and  usually  S braced.  "Mahoney  was 

always  square  and  a  gentleman,"  was  an  expression  I  have  heard 
countless  times  from  men  who  were  his  pupils.  Once  I  sought  to 
question  a  mark  he  had  given  for  two  months'  work  in  history.  With 
not  a  sign  of  annoyance  he  got  out  his  records,  asked  me  to  take  down 
the  entry  for  each  oral  and  written  exercise,  and  suggested  that  I 
average  them  according  to  the  weight  to  be  given  each  and  announce 
the  result.  It  of  course  coincided  with  my  bi-monthly  mark,  and 
there  was  no  room  for  argument.  A  man  in  a  public  school  who  can 
leave  the  impression  of  scrupulous  fairness  is  a  successful  teacher. 

And  Mahoney  was  never  tolerant  of  indecency.  One  instance  is 
enough  for  illustration.  A  sheet  of  vulgar  doggerel  had  been  passed 
from  hand  to  hand  until  some  over-shifty  culprit  had  drawn  the  fire 
of  Mahoney's  vigilant  eye.  The  offending  "poetry"  was  promptly 
corralled,  likewise  the  boy  responsible,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the 
blaze  of  indignation  and  the  torrent  of  scornful,  short -syllabled  words 
that  poured  from  Mahoney's  lips  that  morning.  I  can  almost  feel 
the  tingling  of  that  tongue-lashing,  and  I  suppose  the  easy-going 
chap  upon  whom  the  vials  of  wrath  were  chiefly  visited  will  never 
outlive  the  pre-eminence  of  that  unforgettable  day. 

As  to  military  drill  there  comes  to  mind  only  one  pronounced 
reference  by  Mahoney  while  I  was  still  a  pupil.  The  drill  held  a 
prominent  place  in  the  school,  and  the  annual  scramble  for  offices 
was  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  a  school  career  in  more  ways  than  one. 
It  was  customary  for  the  boys  of  the  Third  Year  Class  themselves  to 
do  the  voting.  This  election  was  then  laid  before  a  teachers'  meeting, 
the  head-master  having  the  last  word.  The  instance  I  recall  was  when 
a  disappointed  youth  went  to  Mahoney  to  pay  his  respects.  A  short- 
sighted teacher,  possibly  making  a  confession  in  avoidance,  had  told 
the  boy  that  Mahoney  had  been  unfavorable.  I  can  see  the  latter 
now  as  he  faced  his  venturesome  critic.  "I  did  argue  against  you, 
because  your  record  does  not  entitle  you  to  the  office.  Do  you  want 
me  to  state  my  reasons  fully?"  The  boy  was  quickly  in  a  panic;  he 
saw  the  grins  on  forty  faces,  and  made  a  hurried  exit. 

Let  us  hear  a  little  more  of  Mahoney's  ideas  of  drill  appointments. 
It  was  a  sore  subject  with  many,  both  teachers  and  pupils.  There  was 
much  unfairness  and  a  lot  more  trafficking  and  wire-pulling  than  was 
good  for  the  school.  As  usual,  Mahoney's  ideas  were  crystallized. 
Among  his  papers  is  a  memorandum,  apparently  written  for  a 
teachers'  meeting.  It  shows  his  mental  habit,  and  it  must  have  been 
hard  to  combat. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  125 

The  chief  reason  for  having  military  drill  in  the  school  is  to  give  physical  train- 
ing. Hence  the  boys  who  can  cause  the  best  drilling  should  be  appointed  as 
officers,  as  far  as  this  can  be  done  without  injury  to  the  school.  This  furnishes  a 
clear  principle  of  selection,  and  the  exceptions  to  it  are  distinctly  indicated.  Of 
course  it  would  be  of  injury  to  the  school,  if  boys  of  (a)  bad  conduct  or  (b)  of  low 
scholarship  should  be  appointed  to  conspicuous  positions.  The  department  of 
physical  instruction,  while  it  is  a  separate  department  with  its  own  standards  is 
still  a  department  of  the  school.  For  that  reason  the  tests  of  (a)  scholarship  and 
(b)  deportment  should  be  negative  tests  i.  e.  limits  should  be  assigned  and  boys 
below  these  limits  would  be  disqualified.  E.  g.  (a)  below  75  %  in  scholarship 
(b)  found  guilty  of  serious  misconduct  by  any  teacher.  But  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  have  positive  tests  for  the  actual  appointments.  For  this  the  standard 
should  be  capacity  to  command.  Here  a  record  of  highest  scholarship  is  even  more 
irrelevant  than  mushroom  popularity.  Each  teacher  should  give  his  estimate  of 
each  candidate's  capacity,  for  the  office  in  question,  in  the  form  of  a  mark.  The 
boys  having  the  highest  average  should  then  pass  a  military  examination.  If 
desirous  to  preserve  the  principal  of  election  the  officer  could  then  be  elected  from 
the  two  or  three  highest  on  the  list.  The  electors  should  as  far  as  possible  be,  not 
from  the  candidates  class,  only,  but  from  the  company,  division  etc.  commanded. 

N.  B.  A  gymnasium  and  general  athletic  record  should  be  kept  and  consulted 
by  the  teachers  in  giving  their  estimate  of  the  boys'  capacity.  This  would  also 
be  a  general  encouragement  to  athletic  education. 

Looking  back  more  than  twenty  years  one's  judgments  of  a 
teacher  are  apt  to  be  softened,  I  know,  but  in  conscience  I  cannot 
recall  a  single  unfavorable  impression.  My  acquaintance  with  men 
teachers  was  then  very  limited.  I  liked  history  and  I  enjoyed  reading; 
I  am  aware  there  were  those  who  did  not  enjoy  either  to  the  same 
degree.  Unquestionably  our  boyish  impressions  were  influenced  some- 
what by  our  liking  for  the  subjects  taught.  It  must  be  allowed,  I 
think,  that  Mahoney's  standards  were  unusual;  even  the  head-master 
who  was  his  most  bitter  critic  felt  obliged  to  concede  to  the  author- 
ities over  his  own  signature  that  Mahoney  was  among  the  most 
scholarly  and  best  informed  teachers  in  the  service,  and  that  his 
"methods,"*  though  original,  achieved  good  results.f  I  suppose  that 
no  two  preferences  of  his  brought  down  upon  his  head  such  caustic 
comment  as  the  pronunciation  of  his  family  name  and  his  insistence 
upon  frequent  airing  of  the  class-room.  Yet  he  persisted  in  both  with 
a  serenity  that  was  peculiarly  baffling  to  those  who  took  issue  with 
him,  and  he  carried  his  point,  in  both.  It  is  not  clear  to  me  that  so 
much  energy  and  vitality  should  have  been  expended  upon  issues  of 
that  degree,  but  to  Mahoney  they  were  as  supreme  as  truth  itself. 
He  would  have  gone  to  the  stake  rather  than  be  recreant  to  his 
father's  name,  or  bow  to  the  little  tyrants  of  the  corridor. 

*Many  "methods"  like  his  "originals"  are  found  in  the  most  approved  text-books  of 
the  present  day. 

fSee  following  this  article. 

NOTE:  This  matter  of  ventilation  is  not  at  all  the  trifling  thing  it  appears  to  be. 
The  controversy  described  was  in  what  some  modern  educators  would  call  the  benighted 


126  JAMES   MAHOXEY   MEMORIAL 

It  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  a  teacher  endowed  with  such  positive 
views  of  right  and  wrong,  of  the  decent  and  proper  thing,  will  be 
admired  or  even  equitably  judged  by  all  his  associates.  Yet  we  have 
it  on  ample  evidence  that  Mahoney  enjoyed  friendly  relations  with 
all  the  teachers  in  the  school  up  to  the  spring  of  1895.  In  one  place 
in  his  papers  he  does  refer  to  a  possible  exception,  but  in  his  own 
phrase  seven  years  was  a  period  certainly  long  enough  to  test  all  his 
qualities.  It  is  a  remarkable  story, — Mahoney 's  persevering  struggle 
to  hold  his  position  through  nearly  twelve  years  of  bitter  personal  con- 
troversy. The  record  of  those  years  is  exceedingly  hard  to  summarize. 
One  feels  constrained  to  tell  all  or  none;  and  I  am  aware  of  the  gate 
I  am  opening  when  I  pass  comment  on  conditions  in  the  English  High 
School  during  that  period.  My  errand  is  biographic,  however,  and 
I  have  no  apology  for  desiring  to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  a  kindly, 
forceful,  and  conscientious  teacher,  a  man  whose  character  and  service 
were  in  a  decisive  way  distinguishable  from  others  whose  grooves 
were  along  parallel  lines. 

Of  what  might  be  called  "school  politics"  English  High  seems 
always  to  have  been  full.  Once  on  the  staff  of  instruction  it  was  usual 
for  teachers  to  spend  nearly  all,  if  not  all,  of  their  active  years  in  its 
routine.  The  ambition  of  each  was  centered  in  promotion,  and  when 
to  this  is  added  the  circumstance  that  the  controlling  authority  is  in 
"the  people"  as  expressed  in  the  election  annually  of  members  of 
the  school  committee,  it  can  readily  be  seen  the  possibilities  were 
large.  Many  of  the  innumerable  skirmishes  were  fought  over  the 
succession  to  the  head-mastership,  and  although  time  is  said  to  heal 
all  wounds  it  has  never  had  any  apparent  solace  for  some  of  the  men 
who  failed  to  reach  the  pinnacle,  unless  it  was  the  sweet  privilege  of 
harboring  resentment.  One  who  knows  the  school  can  get  some 
vivid  impressions  merely  by  scanning  the  list  of  instructors, — say  for 

age  in  pedagogy;  when  ventilation  was  really  regarded  as  hardly  worth  a  serious  teach- 
er's attention.  Nowadays,  what  Mahoney  so  stubbornly  insisted  upon  has  become  the 
required  rule  for  all.  Mahoney  was  decidedly  ahead  of  his  time  in  1895,  in  regarding 
pure  air  as  essential  to  good  teaching.  Moreover  he  had  attended  to  this  ventilating 
matter  without  arousing  anyone's  comment  for  a  long  time  and  took  a  great  deal  of 
pains  with  it.  He  left  old  records,  most  carefully  kept,  of  the  temperature  of  the  class- 
room; all  at  a  time  when  it  was  not  only  not  required,  but  was  hardly  thought  of  by 
teachers. 

He  even  caused  chemical  tests  to  be  made  of  the  air  of  his  class-room  by  Institute  of 
Technology  experts.  To-day  there  is  perhaps  no  one  subject  more  carefully  considered 
than  ventilation;  usually  provided  for  by  the  architects  of  the  new  school  buildings,  not 
as  incidental  to  mere  comfort,  but  as  a  vital  need  in  education,  which  is  the  point 
insisted  upon  by  James  Mahoney  in  those  old  days. 

Who  can  say  that  the  present  development  is  not  the  natural  result  of  his  efforts  and 
so  was  it  not  worth  while  for  him  to  endure  all  that  he  did  to  have  the  health  of  all 
safeguarded? 

NELLIE  M.  MAHONET. 


JAMES   MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  127 

the  fifty  years  from  1865  to  1915.  As  head-master  Mr.  Cumston 
succeeded  Mr.  Sherwin;  Mr.  Edwin  P.  Seaver  followed  Mr.  Cumston. 
When  Mr.  Seaver  resigned  it  was  to  become  superintendent  of  public 
schools  all  over  the  city,  and  at  once  the  promotion  pot  boiled. 
Little  fires  flared  up,  and  as  a  result,  in  a  word,  an  "outsider"  in 
the  person  of  Mr.  Francis  A.  Waterhouse  was  given  the  position. 
This  was  in  1880,  the  year  Mahoney  was  graduating  from  the 
Brookfield  High  School,  eight  years  before  he  took  up  his  work  in 
English  High.  Mr.  Waterhouse  took  charge,  personal  charge;  and 
with  a  grotesqueness  that  I  am  tempted  to  call  Lilliputian,  the  sore 
and  the  disappointed  nursed  their  grievances  and  bided  their  time. 
It  was  as  if,  when  they  met  in  the  corridor,  they  accused  each  other, 
"You  kept  me  from  being  head- master !"  If  there  seemed  any 
chance  of  the  feud  dying  down,  some  new  arrival  by  taking  sides 
would  fan  the  blaze.  Meanwhile  Mr.  Waterhouse  ran  the  school, 
made  his  own  assignments  of  the  teachers  under  him,  and  framed  his 
own  schedule  of  hours,  according  as  seemed  to  him  wise  and  for  the 
good  interest  of  the  school. 

It  is  worth  noticing  that  during  this  regime  Mahoney  had  no 
"difficulty"  with  his  associates.  In  fact,  the  first  "incident"  he 
could  recall  was  the  hurried  petition  when  it  was  learned  Mr.  Water- 
house  was  to  have  leave  of  absence.  The  enterprising  group  who 
thought  so  much  was  at  stake  wanted  to  name  the  master  who  to 
their  minds  should  be  first  in  line  for  promotion.  Mahoney  had  high 
regard  for  Mr.  Waterhouse,  and  took  exception  not  only  to  the  fever- 
ish haste  of  the  round-robin  but  to  the  propriety  of  it.  It  was  in 
line,  however,  with  a  sustained  effort,  as  Mahoney  thought,  to  under- 
mine the  influence  of  the  head-master.  Years  before,  when  Mahoney 
entered  the  school,  a  supervisor  who  was  afterwards  superintendent 
had  cautioned  him  to  be  wary.  And  one  of  the  senior  instructors 
had  volunteered,  "Do  what  you  think  is  right,  and  every  hand  will  be 
against  you," — this  with  a  Bismarckian  gesture!  Mahoney  was 
destined  to  learn  the  full  bearing  of  so  weighty  a  pronouncement  as 
applied  in  English  High. 

Into  the  merits  of  all  the  differences  that  arose  we  must  not  go,  but 
Mahoney's  account  of  one  of  them  is  enlightening. 

[Dated  January  27,  1906.] 

Soon  after  I  entered  the  school,  the  little  group  of  men  (above  referred  to) 
formed  a  dining  club,  open  to  all  the  male  teachers  in  the  high  schools  of  the  city 
with  the  exception  of  the  Head  Masters.  However,  but  few  teachers  save  those 
of  the  English  High  School,  attended  these  dinners;  and,  in  the  main,  from  the 
High  School  the  men  who  regularly  came  were  the  more  intimate  friends  of  Messrs. 
X — ,  Y — ,  and  Z — .  At  these  gatherings,  slurs  and  attacks  upon  Mr.  Waterhouse 
were  very  frequent.  The  belief  was  gradually  formed  in  my  mind  that  that  dining 
club  was  intended  as  a  means  of  attacking  Mr.  Waterhouse,  and  all  the  facts  that 
I  have  since  learned  have  confirmed  that  impression.  .  .  . 


128  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

At  one  of  the  dinners  Mr.  Z —  sat  next  to  me,  and  introduced  the  subject  of 
anarchy  and  anarchists.  He  asked  my  opinion  about  the  justice  of  executing 
Chicago  anarchists,  who  had  just  been  convicted  of  throwing  bombs.  I  told  him 
that  in  my  opinion  the  anarchists  richly  deserved  their  punishment.  This  state- 
ment of  mine  brought  a  strong  protest  from  Z — .  He  told  me  that  he  was  an 
anarchist,  and  gave  me  to  understand  that  my  opinion  on  the  subject  was  due  to 
ignorance  of  what  anarchy  meant.  This  statement  led  to  a  long  series  of  argu- 
ments with  Mr.  Z — ,  and  then  with  his  two  most  intimate  friends,  Mr.  Y —  and 
Mr.  X — ,  both  of  whom  sided  with  Mr.  Z — . 

Our  arguments  were  finally  reduced  to  writing,  and  both  Mr.  Y —  and  Mr.  Z — , 
who  took  up  the  argument  in  this  way,  were  obliged  to  abandon  their  positions :  but 
claimed  that  I  had  won  my  victory  by  hairsplitting  with  regard  to  definitions. 
They  still  persisted  in  continuing  the  oral  arguments.  At  length,  I  became  heartily 
tired  of  the  subject,  and  of  always  meeting  the  same  arguments.  I  gave  Mr.  Z — 
to  understand  as  much,  not  in  the  way  of  a  quarrel  but  in  a  single  pointed  state- 
ment that  I  didn't  care  to  discuss  the  matter.  In  addition  to  my  feeling  on  the 
subject,  my  judgment  was  that  the  discussion  was  getting  altogether  too  prominent 
as  it  was  being  carried  on  during  school  hours;  and  even  some  of  the  pupils  had 
begun  to  get  hold  of  certain  anarchistic  books  and  papers  which  Mr.  Z —  had  been 
responsible  for  getting  into  the  school  building. 

[Briefly  there  was  an  altercation  over  Mahoney's  refusal  to  receive  the  litera- 
ture. Mahoney  was  completely  surprised  by  Z — 's  attack.] 

.  .  .  I  had  always  found  Mr.  Z —  gentle  in  his  manners,  and  I  regarded  him  as 
perfectly  sincere  in  advocating  the  doctrines  of  anarchy,  although  I  considered 
him  something  of  a  fanatic.  I  had  become  fond  of  him  personally,  and  when  he 
attacked  me,  I  was  more  surprised  than  angry.  I  tried  to  reason  with  him  for  a 
moment,  but  his  insults  quickly  stopped  me.  .  . "  . 

It  is  never  pleasant  to  include  details  like  these,  nor  is  it  agreeable 
to  bring  in  the  unfavorable  traits  of  some  of  Mahoney's  associates, 
but  there  seems  no  alternative  if  his  hard  experience  is  to  be  told 
with  due  regard  for  things  as  they  were.  So  we  continue.  A  further 
"incident"  was  one  which  comes  within  my  own  recollection.  For 
a  time  [in  1895]  there  was  a  small  publication  issued  by  certain  of  the 
Fourth  Year  boys  and  called  The  Advance.  It  was  designed  to  be 
more  readable  than  the  E.  H.  S.  Record  and  rather  made  a  point  of 
being  facetious.  The  jokesmiths  went  pretty  far  on  more  occasions 
than  one,  and  it  was  impossible  not  to  think  some  of  the  quips  in- 
spired. They  were  at  least  a  commentary  on  the  jovial  relations  of 
teachers  and  pupils  in  the  Advanced  Class.  It  was  inevitable  under 
such  circumstances  that  there  should  be  a  play  upon  Mahoney's 
name.  I  remember  distinctly  the  hum  of  excitement  the  day  this  came 
out.  All  of  us  were  kept  in  our  rooms  until  every  copy  of  that  edi- 
tion of  The  Advance  had  been  surrendered,  later  to  be  thrown  under 
the  boiler.  The  only  day  to  be  compared  with  that  was  when  a 
master  vehemently  objected  to  "Casey  at  the  Bat,"  for  purposes  of 
public  declamation.  Some  of  the  teachers  seem  to  have  thought 
themselves  very  waggish. 

Good  reason  had  Mahoney  for  regarding  the  subsequent  years  as 
passed  "under  the  most  trying  circumstances."  The  year  [1895- 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  129 

1896]  at  the  University  of  Berlin,  on  leave  by  permission  of  the 
Boston  School  Committee,  was  a  welcome  respite,  but  once  he 
returned  the  fray  was  on  with  redoubled  energy.  Not  only  in  his 
own  room  were  Mahoney's  ideas  of  proper  ventilation  interfered  with, 
but  X — ,  Y — ,  and  Z —  with  their  associates  would  casually  hold 
meetings  just  outside  Mahoney's  door,  taking  pains  to  slam  down  his 
corridor  windows,  and  express  opinions  loud  enough  for  pupils  to  hear. 
His  marks,  and  in  certain  cases  his  recommendations  of  pupils  for  pro- 
motion, were  arbitrarily  overruled.  Other  history  teachers  were 
given  precedence  as  to  choice  of  work  or  hours  or  grade  of  pupils, 
even  though  their  rank  was  junior  to  his.  I  am  not  prepared  to  say 
that  on  every  occasion  Mahoney's  view  should  have  been  adopted — 
the  responsibility  for  conducting  the  school  was  upon  other  shoul- 
ders— but  I  do  assert  that  Mahoney  was  always  ready  with  a  reason 
for  the  view  he  took,  and  that  from  instances  that  came  to  my  notice 
it  grew  into  a  habit  to  deal  with  his  advice  in  ways  that  were  unnec- 
essarily crude,  ill-intentioned.  In  a  word,  the  procedure  was  too  often 
calculated  to  give  the  maximum  affront  to  a  capable,  high-minded 
teacher.  Mahoney's  capacity  had  been  certified  as  had  the  capacity 
of  others;  he  was  there  under  the  appointment  of  the  School  Com- 
mittee and  not  of  any  man  in  the  school,  and  we  must  agree  it  was 
proper  for  him  to  resent  any  invasion  of  his  rights  as  an  instructing 
officer.  I  have  gone  over  his  papers,  I  talked  with  most  of  the  other 
teachers  while  the  cauldron  was  bubbling,  and  Mahoney's  judgment  of 
what  was  going  on  I  am  bound  to  say  was  extremely  accurate.  In 
1900  he  told  me  that  among  the  "junto,"  the  "inside  group,"a  definite 
succession  to  the  head-mastership  had  been  agreed  upon.  It  may  be 
a  coincidence,  but  certainly  it  is  a  fact,  that  that  "succession"  has  been 
carried  out !  "  It  was  very  clear  now  that  the  school  was  being  turned 
into  a  perpetual  caucus,  that  a  rush-line  was  being  formed,  and  men 
were  being  whipped  into  line."  Mahoney  felt  he  was  none  too  severe. 

The  effort  to  super-organize  the  school  by  delegating  supervisory 
functions  to  certain  teachers  and  not  to  others  was  particularly 
repugnant.  The  duties  of  head-master  were  not  so  exacting  that  any 
division  of  responsibility  was  either  necessary  or  desirable,  and  in 
due  course  there  was  a  superintendent  who  upheld  that  view, — "Deans 
of  Classes"  and  other  superfluous  designations  were  peremptorily 
discontinued. 

But  if  there  was  one  practice  above  another  that  Mahoney  abom- 
inated, it  was  active  soliciting  by  text-book  salesmen,  often  during 
school  hours.  He  consistently  refused  to  write  text-books  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  improper  for  an  instructor  in  the  school  system  to 
use  his  personal  influence  to  have  them  purchased  by  the  city.  He 
also  declined  to  favor  specific  books,  and  he  carefully  returned  quan- 
tities that  were  sent  him,  stating  that  he  accepted  gifts  only  from 


130  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

personal  friends.  Always  his  eyes  would  snap  and  his  face  grow  tense 
when  the  text-book  companies  were  mentioned.  He  would  not  sup- 
port the  introduction  of  a  certain  manual  on  Greek  history,  partly  be- 
cause he  considered  the  book  poorly  adapted  for  high  schools  but 
chiefly  because  he  wanted  first  the  wall-maps,  atlases,  translations  of 
authorities,  etc.,  all  of  which  had  been  promised  but  never  received. 
Nevertheless  this  particular  book  was  introduced  and  much  of 
Mahoney's  history  work  was  assigned  other  teachers.  Mahoney  felt 
the  weight  of  the  school  program  being  steadily  exerted  to  his  dis- 
advantage. 

.  .  .  All  my  work  with  the  upper  classes  was  first  taken  away  [for 
some  years  German  appeared  as  one  of  his  subjects] ;  then  my  divisions  in  history 
were  taken  away  one  after  another,  until  but  one  now  remains;  and  English  with 
the  entering  class  was  substituted.  In  these  English  divisions,  new  directions 
were  now  given  for  an  unusual  amount  of  written  work  and  correction  of  the  same. 
A  person  who  is  not  accustomed  to  high  school  teaching  will  fail  to  realize  just 
what  this  means,  both  in  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  discipline  and  of  imparting 
instruction.  One  hour  of  work  in  the  entering  class  takes  at  least  twice  as  much 
from  a  man's  vital  energy  as  a  like  period  in  the  upper  classes — not  to  mention  the 
added  dignity  of  teaching  in  the  upper  grades  of  the  school;  and  the  satisfaction 
that  a  teacher  finds  in  following  his  pupils  in  their  growth. 

For  all  this  manceuvering  there  had  to  be  a  climax.  In  1899-1900 
there  were  charges  of  insubordination  against  Mahoney.  And  the 
large  item  in  the  bill  of  particulars  was  that  old  misdemeanor,  the 
too  frequent  ventilation  of  his  room!  After  years  of  a  watchfulness 
that  was  feline,  after  conferring  that  was  constant,  and  in  possession 
of  every  shred  of  information  that  could  possibly  have  a  bearing,  this 
camarilla  of  intrepid  men  fixed  upon  ventilation  as  the  capital  sin. 
Mahoney  said  he  was  never  permitted  to  know  what  was  being  laid 
against  him,  but  the  cabal  went  hi  a  body  with  their  sore  thumbs. 
As  each  came  from  the  committee  room  he  conferred  with  those  in 
waiting,  and  frequent  were  the  expressions  of  elation  at  the  progress 
being  made.  The  committee,  however,  did  not  agree  with  the  com- 
plainants, and  the  charges  were  dismissed  without  being  referred  to 
the  full  board.  Members  of  the  committee  stated  afterwards  the 
strong  impression  made  upon  them  by  Mr.  Ellis  Peterson,  long  the 
supervisor  in  charge  of  English  High.  He  took  a  part  in  the  hearing 
and  paid  Mahoney  a  strong  compliment;  he  considered  him,  he  said, 
one  of  the  ablest  teachers  of  history  he  had  known.  Mr.  Peterson 
was  one  of  the  most  punctilious  of  gentlemen,  with  a  high  regard  for 
discipline  and  for  the  proper  ordering  of  schools,  and  not  lightly 
would  he  have  raised  his  voice  in  defence  of  a  teacher  under  charges. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  during  all  this  time  the  man  who 
was  superintendent  of  schools  had  been  a  head-master  of  English 
High;  X —  had  been  his  colleague,  and  Mr.  Seaver  was  committed 
to  the  regime  which  others  besides  Mahoney  found  oppressive  and 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  131 

unseemly.  By  1900  the  Public  School  Association  had  been  estab- 
lished, at  that  time  a  well-intentioned  effort  to  "keep  the  schools  out 
of  politics,"  but  through  a  peculiar  posture  the  members  of  the  school 
committee  elected  on  that  platform  felt  it  incumbent  on  them  always 
to  support  the  superintendent's  nominations.  There  were  several 
school  committee  members  anxious  to  correct  conditions  at  the  school, 
but  it  can  readily  be  seen  how  difficult  it  was  to  pry  off  the  lid. 

There  are  other  things  that  might  be  said,  but  they  are  not  needed 
in  an  appreciation  of  Mahoney's  work.  His  memory  can  stand  the 
omission.  The  hearing  referred  to  was  in  1899,  but  for  nearly  eight 
years  more  Mahoney  stayed  in  the  school,  not  because  the  atmosphere 
was  congenial,  but  as  a  matter  of  principle  and  to  testify  to  his  firm 
belief  that  his  sacrifices  would  be  recognized  and  that  eventually  some 
measure  of  justice  would  be  done.  But  there  remained  other  lengths 
to  which  those  hardy  citizens  would  go.  Mahoney  had  beaten  them  on 
ground  of  their  own  choosing.  His  hate  for  a  lie,  his  scorn  for  what 
was  indirect  and  sinuous,  his  reliance  not  upon  political  friends  but 
upon  his  own  character, — these  did  not  make  his  presence,  for  them, 
either  a  comfort  or  a  mantle  of  light.  No  effort  was  spared  to  get  him 
out  of  the  school.  Whether  teachers  were  friendly  to  him  or  lent 
themselves  to  mean  annoyances  seemed  the  test  of  preferment  at  the 
head-master's  office.  One  can  imagine  the  state  of  things. 

I  leave  out  the  janitor,  his  salary,  and  his  reputed  political  conse- 
quence. His  position  was  unique;  it  would  not  have  been  tolerated 
in  any  other  institution.  But  I  pass  him  by,  lest  the  record  seem 
unbelievable.  In  desiring  to  commemorate  Mahoney's  services  to 
English  High  we  need  deal  only  with  men  who  were  his  colleagues, 
men  whose  calling  should  have  forbidden  the  little  low  ways  of  human 
cheapness, — should  have  saved  them  from  "the  mongrel  heel-snap- 
ping breed  of  injustice."  But  with  a  few  last  sentences  from  Ma- 
honey's statement  of  1906  I  must  cut  short  what  bids  fair  to  become 
a  volume,  and  not  a  chapter. 

During  all  these  years,  at  every  hour  of  the  day,  I  have  always  been  found 
absolutely  attending  to  the  duties  of  my  position;  always  with  my  pupils  and  mind- 
ing my  own  affairs.  When  orders  came  to  me  from  the  Head  Master  or  from  other 
sources  of  authority,  I  have  instantly  and  to  the  best  of  my  ability  obeyed  them. 
Attacks  upon  me  I  have  simply  turned  aside  in  the  way  of  self-defense,  and  I 
believe  I  am  absolutely  correct  in  saying  that  more  than  this  I  have  not  done. 

.  .  .  Personal  insults,  vicious  and  wholly  unprovoked,  have  come  to  me 
from  this  set  of  men,  .  .  .  These  insults  have  been  of  the  grossest  kind,  and 
are  almost  past  belief.  .  .  . 

Having  failed  to  force  me  out  of  the  school,  these  men  endeavor  to  resist  in  every 
possible  way  my  honorable  promotion  from  it.  I  desire  to  call  especial  attention 
to  this  fact  and  also  to  declare  that  even  my  patience  must  finally  have  a  limit. 

That  was  in  January,  1906.  In  1904  Mahoney  had  been  a  candi- 
date for  supervisor.  He  was  not  successful,  but  neither  was  Y —  who 


13-2  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

had  made  a  strong  bid  for  the  place,  backed  by  the  unqualified  sup- 
port of  X — •.  In  1906  Mahoney  made  another  effort  for  promotion  to 
the  same  office.  Seven  of  his  colleagues  joined  in  the  indorsement,  and 
Mr.  Peterson  added  his  precisely  worded  approval:  "I  carefully  ob- 
served your  work  as  a  teacher  of  history  in  the  English  High  School, 
and  am  glad  to  write  that  in  aim,  method,  and  result  it  was,  in  my 
opinion,  Excellent."  Mr.  William  H.  Partridge,  from  1872  treasurer 
of  the  English  High  School  Association,  wrote  of  his  relations  with 
Mahoney  on  the  Board  of  Government.  "I  learned  to  respect  his 
ability,  erudition,  judicial  temperament,  and  universal  urbanity  of 
manner.  .  .  .  The  expression  of  his  convictions  while  firm  was 
always  gentle  and  kindly.  I  should  consider  him  a  valuable  acquisi- 
tion to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  in  these  days  when  so  many  edu- 
cators are  tempted  to  manreuver  for  position  rather  than  eminence 
in  their  profession."  And  in  a  sheaf  of  letters  written  by  former 
pupils  there  is  one  from  Professor  C.  E.  A.  Winslow,  paying  grace- 
ful tribute  to  "an  old  teacher  of  mine."  "I  know  nothing  about 
any  special  issues  which  may  be  involved  but  I  am  sure  the 
enthusiasm  and  strength  of  Mr.  Mahoney 's  teaching  instinct  could 
hardly  fail  to  be  helpful.  I  went  from  the  E.  H.  S.  to  Technology 
where  I  studied  and  am  now  teaching,  but  I  remember  few  contacts 
in  my  whole  educational  career  more  inspiring  than  that  with  him." 
Several  members  of  the  school  committee  in  1904  were  equally 
strong  in  their  support,  but  thirteen  was  still  the  necessary  majority. 

Mahoney  longed  for  an  honorable  release,  comparable  with  the 
preferment  that  had  been  given  others.  He  should  have  had  it;  of 
that  there  is  no  question  among  unprejudiced  observers.  With  un- 
exampled patience  he  waited  an  opening  for  promotion.  At  length 
it  came,  at  the  South  Boston  High  School,  as  head  of  the  English 
department.  Not  until  then  did  he  give  up  his  work  at  English  High. 

Five  years  later,  he  sought  the  head-mastership  at  South  Boston. 
The  cabal  was  unrelenting,  untiring,  and  undismayed.  The  old 
portfolios  were  opened;  the  same  old  grist  went  into  the  mill.  The 
"charges"  were  mouldy  with  age,  but  dealers  in  damaged  goods 
seldom  examine  their  wares.  Promotion  was  again  withheld, but  mar- 
vellous to  say  somebody  had  at  last  signalled  a  retreat.  On  July  7, 
1913,  in  a  communication  to  the  chairman  of  the  school  committee, 
X —  signed  a  recantation;  it  deserves  a  name  no  less  imposing. 
"I  desire  to  withdraw  the  statement  which  I  made  before  the  School 
Committee  which  referred  to  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  and  wish  it 
regarded  as  never  made.  ...  I  have  not  made  any  statement 
with  the  purpose  of  injuring  Mr.  Mahoney  and  in  the  future  I  shall 
refrain  from  making  any  statement  whatever  in  regard  to  him." 

Some  months  ago  I  saw  Y —  on  the  train,  bemoaning  the  grind  he 
was  obliged  to  return  to.  The  other  day  I  saw  Z —  conducting  his 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  133 

classes  precisely  as  he  has  for  a  generation.  X —  is  in  retirement,  not 
easily  separated  from  a  place  he  tried  to  retain.  Mahoney  died  at  the 
end  of  a  pleasant  serviceable  year  on  the  staff  of  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education.  I  have  been  tempted  to  ask  X — ,  Y — ,  and 
Z —  whether  on  sober  reflection  the  pursuit  was  worth  the  candle. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  a  foolish  question,  but  I  should  have  a  curious 
interest  in  their  replies. 

A  pupil  in  the  school,  I  respected  Mahoney;  as  the  years  went  on  I 
grew  fond  of  him.  I  was  the  recipient  of  kindly  attention  which  it 
was  not  open  to  a  youth  to  reciprocate.  But  had  I  not  enjoyed  his 
friendship  I  think  his  work  in  the  English  High  School  would  still 
have  appealed  to  a  certain  commemorative  instinct  which  I  acknowl- 
edge I  share.  If  the  boys  who  wrote  letters  were  stimulated  as  they 
say  they  were  stimulated,  then  the  fruits  were  ample  and  our  friend's 
life  is  justly  a  matter  of  biographic  interest.  It  is  to  be  hoped  this 
account  will  not  be  considered  merely  ex  parte  praise.  The  intent 
is  to  show  Mahoney's  singular  fidelity  to  truth,  to  the  highest 
ideals  of  teaching.  Had  he  been  less  faithful  he  could  have  enjoyed 
a  comfortable  humdrum  good-fellowship  sort  of  existence  among  his 
teaching  associates.  "Happily,"  as  Maitland  said  of  Leslie  Stephen, 
"there  was  at  least  one  price  that  he  would  not  pay  for  a  pleasant 
life." 

G.  G.  Wolkins,  '96. 

Two  addresses  by  James  Mahoney  at  teachers'  meetings,  given 
below,  indicate  very  well  his  method  in  teaching.  The  first  is  regard- 
ing the  teaching  of  "The  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  and  the  second  "English 
in  the  South  Boston  High  school."  Also  a  Topic  Syllabus  for  written 
work. 

He  was  ever  original  in  educational  method  and  had  no  special 
reverence  for  tradition  unless  it  "made  good."  The  appended  may 
be  described  perhaps  as  a  technical  paper,  being  addressed  by  a 
teacher  for  teachers'  ears  only,  but  is  illustrative  of  how  Mahoney 
would  help  the  student  toward  good  English. 

NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY 

"  I  consider  that  the  value  of  instruction  in  the  '  Lady  of  the  Lake'  is  to  be  deter- 
mined in  the  same  way  that  the  value  of  instruction  in  any  text  is  to  be  determined : 
It  depends,  it  seems  to  me,  first  on  the  teacher's  insight  into  the  nature  of  her  pupils; 
and,  secondly,  on  her  ability  and  skill  in  using  the  text  to  draw  out  and  strengthen  the 
native  qualities  of  the  children.  Her  insight  will  be  measured  by  her  capacity  to 
rightly  'size  up'  the  concrete  class  group  before  her,  to  see  their  mental  qualities  and 
attainments,  emotional,  as  well  as  intellectual.  In  fact,  these  young  people  are 
emotional  rather  than  intellectual,  and  sympathy  is  the  magic  quality  in  the  teacher 
that  will  teach  her  insight." 


134  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

"Then,  the  teacher  of  insight,  if  she  truly  loves  her  author  and  his  work,  can  inspire 
in  her  pupils  sympathetic  interests  in  the  general  subject  matter  of  the  text. 

"In  the  case  of  the  'Lady  of  the  Lake,'  pupils  quickly  take  warm  interest  in  the 
mountains,  lakes  and  valleys  of  the  Scotch  landscape,  and  in  the  romantic  history  of 
Scotland,  as  well. 

"  When  once  the  pupils  really  feel  a  sympathetic  personal  interest  in  the  author  and 
his  work,  the  teacher  can  go  to  almost  any  length  with  them  in  the  nicer  points  of 
scholarship. 

"  Striving  to  carry  out  these  thoughts  in  practice,  I  have  never,  I  think,  taught  the 
'Lady  of  the  Lake'  in  just  the  same  way  with  any  two  classes;  but  my  first  endeavor 
is  to  get  the  students  to  make  out  the  story  and  to  like  it  so  well  that  they  will  then,  in  a 
review,  use  as  much  care  as  they  are  capable  of  in  learning  somewhat  accurately 
the  meanings  of  the  more  difficult  words,  phrases,  allusions,  meters,  and  the  like.  In 
this  way  they  will  look  up  with  less  reluctance  difficult  words,  and  strive  with  some 
intelligence  to  unravel  hard  sentences. 

"  In  accordance  with  this  plan,  I  generally  ask  them  to  strive  to  explain  the  intro- 
ductory Spenserian  stanzas  after  reading  and  reviewing  the  body  of  the  Canto. 

"  When  the  interest  is  truly  aroused,  even  young  children  will  quickly  master  the 
meters  and  scansion  of  the  poems.  If  personal  interest  is  not  aroused,  the  '  Lady  of  the 
Lake'  may  easily  prove  a  mechanical  burden  and  a  source  of  real  injury  to  pupils. 

"  On  a  real  reading  of,  let  us  say,  the  finer  passages,  interested  pupils  will  show  real 
appreciation  of  the  harmony  of  the  lines,  and  the  beauty  of  the  language.  For  the 
boys,  specially,  I  am  convinced  that  the  '  Lady  of  the  Lake'  is  one  of  the  best  gateways 
to  the  realm  of  poetry.  Most  boys,  at  first,  seem  to  care  but  little  for  poetry;  and 
to  so  teach  them  that  they  will  later  voluntarily,  and  with  profit,  read  a  volume  of 
poetry  is  an  object  worth  striving  for. 

"  I  believe  that  this  text  is  one  of  the  best  means  to  teach  pupils  how  to  express 
themselves,  for  to  give  an  adequate  account  of  one  of  Scott's  descriptions  will  tax  their 
powers — but  here  again  everything  depends  on  the  good  judgment  and  enthusiasm  of 
the  teacher. 

In  answer  to  a  question  from  Miss  O'Connor,  Mr.  Mahoney  said 
that  it  was  his  plan  to  get  the  pupils  to  tell  him  the  story,  rather  than 
that  he  should  tell  the  story  to  the  pupils.  In  fact,  he  never  intended 
to  tell  them  anything  which  he  could  get  them  to  tell  him.  This  was 
the  way  to  draw  out  their  powers. 

Miss  Rutland  inquired  how  far  Mr.  Mahoney  thought  it  possible  to 
go  in  the  explanation  of  words  and  phrases.  He  answered  that  he 
thought  that  a  test  of  the  teachers'  judgment  and  insight.  If  the 
proper  interest  is  aroused,  one  can  go  far  in  that  direction,  but  he 
said  that  he  must  admit  that  classes  varied  in  their  capacity. 


JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Oct.  7,  1907. 

ENGLISH  IN  THE  SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  try  to  tell  the  teachers  many  things  which 
they  do  not  know  in  regard  to  the  English  language.  It  is  my  hope, 
rather,  to  remind  them  of  things,  which,  under  the  pressure  of  other 
duties,  may  be  overlooked. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  135 

Specialization  has  invaded  our  schools  to  such  an  extent  that 
there  has  come  of  late  a  just  demand  for  greater  co-ordination  of  work. 
So  loud  is  this  demand  that  there  is  danger  of  forgetting  that  spirit 
which  "makes  all  things  work  together  for  good." 

Inasmuch  as  I  trust  that  that  spirit  exists  in  this  school,  I  venture 
to  remind  you  of  the  fundamental  value  of  our  English  tongue;  and 
to  suggest  a  few  practical  means  by  which  our  mutual  efforts  will 
benefit  all  our  departments;  and  so  our  school. 

But  a  few  years  ago  it  would  have  seemed  presumption  to  offer  a 
defense  of  the  English  language.  Its  importance  was  taken  for 
granted, — just  as  the  knack  of  using  it  was  taken  for  granted.  All 
other  things  had  to  be  studied  and  practiced.  Not  so,  English! 
That  came  free  with  the  tongue. 

Volapuk  is  indeed  forgotten;  but,  to-day,  the  noisy  lovers  of  Esper- 
anto would  have  us  think  that  English  is  in  the  yellow  leaf,  and  with 
all  the  other  old  tongues  must  soon  disappear,  leaving  roots  only,  for 
a  scientific  mode  of  speech. 

Let  us  not  be  unkind  to  Esperanto,  for  it  represents  the  reform 
tendency  in  language  which  does  for  a  language  what  manicure  does 
for  the  fingers.  But  our  native  speech  is  as  truly  an  organic  growth 
as  our  brain. 

Recall  to  your  minds  what  our  English  is.  It  is  the  native  tongue 
of  the  mightiest  racial  element  in  the  universe — the  English,  Irish, 
Scotch;  Kelt  and  Teuton  combined,  the  strongest,  fiercest,  subtlest 
of  the  human  race.  It  is  the  storage  battery  of  their  heart,  their 
soul,  their  intellect  and  their  will  power.  It  holds,  as  if  by  magic,  all 
the  racial  attainments,  in  science,  art,  government;  in  love  and  in 
war. 

But  more  than  that.  More  than  any  other  tongue,  it  represents 
human  speech.  It  has  drawn  into  itself,  the  structure,  the  contents, 
the  genius  and  energy  of  all  other  tongues  and  peoples. 

For  our  boys  and  girls,  then,  it  is  the  light  of  their  minds  and  the 
gateway  of  their  souls.  Deeper  than  their  breath,  it  is  the  very  gar- 
ment of  their  consciousness.  By  it,  they  seize  upon  nature,  science, 
history  and  art. 

True  proficiency  in  language  is  the  true  index  of  mental  power. 
The  increase  of  efficiency  in  science  and  art  and  industry  bears  a 
constant  ratio  to  the  increase  of  efficiency  in  language.  Here  lies 
the  common  ground  of  all  the  departments. 

With  this  in  mind  let  us  examine  some  of  the  interacting  cogs  of 
our  educational  machinery,  with  a  view  to  greater  efficiency  in  our 
boy  and  girl  products. 

All  our  work  is  either  oral  or  written.  The  spoken  word  is  the  unit 
in  human  exchanges;  the  sentence  is  the  unit  of  thought  in  algebra, 
chemistry,  biology  and  dynamics  as  well  as  in  German  or  Spanish. 


136  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

The  microscope  and  the  acid  test  make  the  meaning  of  the  word 
clearer  in  the  mind,  and  the  balance  of  the  sentence  more  true. 

To  put  it  bluntly,  when  the  teacher  of  English  vitalizes  the  mean- 
ing of  a  word  in  a  child's  mind,  she  is  directly  helping  every  other 
department.  But  the  word  must  receive  wings  so  that  it  may  reach 
the  ear  and  all  teachers  ought  to  insist  on  right  pronunciation  and 
articulation.  Joint  and  constant  effort  will  help  to  overcome  local 
errors,  and  mumbling  speech.  And  that  is  something  harder  and 
more  glorious  than  the  Japanese  war. 

The  sentence  in  language  is  more  wonderful  than  the  "  flower  in  the 
crannied  wall."  Sentences  form  the  framework  of  the  temple  of 
thought.  Whoever  helps  to  build  them  true  as  the  plumbline,  is  an 
architect  of  civilization,  and  a  benefactor  of  the  arts  and  crafts  and 
sciences. 

Sentence  structure  means  grammar,  not  grammatical  red  tape, 
but  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  parts  of  human  speech  with  the 
practical  art  of  using  them  as  subject,  as  predicate  and  as  modifiers, 
that  is  to  say,  it  is  not  pedantry,  but  it  is  human  intelligence  in  action. 

In  insisting  on  correct  sentences  we  will  all  bear  a  common  burden 
for  a  common  advantage,  to  wit — clear  thought. 

Language  is  a  means  of  self-expression,  but  it  would  be  a  poor  thing 
if  it  meant  only  our  self-expression  to  others,  and  not  also  the  self- 
expression  of  others,  of  the  race,  of  mankind  for  us.  Herein  lies  the 
value  of  wisely  directed  supplementary  reading. 

The  teachers  of  English  are  making  lists  of  books  for  supplementary 
reading.  I  invite  the  teachers  of  the  other  departments  to  suggest 
books,  which,  while  not  rated  as  English  classics,  would  be  valuable 
for  general  reading.  Some  boy's  soul  may  be  saved  thereby. 

Writing  seems  necessary  for  civilization — therefore  the  boy  and 
girl,  however  unwilling,  must  have  it.  All  the  departments  have  it. 
I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  greater  efficiency  we  may  obtain  if  we 
all  insist  upon  certain  points,  wherein  agreement  is  permissible. 

Written  work  is  generally  the  bugbear  of  both  teacher  and  pupil. 
It  is  apt  to  worry  the  pupil.  It  often  saps  the  vitality  of  the  teacher; 
and  where  is  the  corresponding  benefit?  A  faithful  teacher  spends 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  making  comments  in  red  upon  an  essay 
which  violates  all  the  laws  and  canons. 

With  a  class  of  thirty-six  pupils  that  means  nine  or  ten  hours  of 
the  hardest  drudgery.  With  five  such  classes  in  a  week  it  means 
forty-five  or  fifty  hours  of  such  work,  for  one  such  written  exercise 
per  week  from  each  pupil.  This  is  the  same  as  saying  that  something 
like  eight  hours  a  day  every  day  in  the  week,  including  Saturday,  are 
spent  on  that  brain  killing,  soul  killing,  teacher  killing  job. 

And  the  pathos  of  it  consists  in  this  that  it  is  the  finest  and  most 
conscientious  teacher  who  comes  nearest  to  killing  herself  in  doing 
just  that  thing. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  137 

For  years  I  have  wrestled  with  this  subject  of  correction  of  written 
work,  and  I  consider  it  the  teacher's  bad  angel.  I  have  reached  the 
conclusion  that  very  much  of  that  effort  is  wasted,  and  is  due  to  a 
misconception  of  our  duty  in  the  matter. 

Why!  Fifteen  minutes  are  entirely  inadequate  to  properly  criti- 
cize that  paper!  It  would  take  a  special  volume  to  do  justice  to  it. 
And  the  boy  would  not  read  the  volume;  most  likely  he  wouldn't 
profit  by  it  if  he  did  read  it ;  and  the  chances  are  that  he  will  not  read 
the  crimson  criticisms,  although  hovering  betwixt  respect  and  fear 
on  the  one  hand  and  disdain  on  the  other,  he  may  compromise  by  a 
hasty  glance! 

I  am  very  confident  that  more  may  be  accomplished  by  teaching 
the  pupil  the  elements  of  criticism,  requiring  him  to  apply  them  to  his 
own  work,  and  marking  him  upon  the  skill  with  which  he  does  it. 
In  this  simple  system  of  abbreviation  and  reference  will  be  time  saving 
machinery  for  pupil  as  well  as  for  teacher. 

Let  me  illustrate  my  meaning  by  reference  to  my  own  usage. 
(Forms  for  written  work  were  here  distributed.) 

The  essentials  of  grammar  and  rhetoric  I  have  condensed  here 
under  twelve  heads.  Well  nigh  every  criticism  that  can  be  directed 
against  written  work  will  come  under  one  of  these  heads,  which  I 
term  standards  of  criticism.  Let  me  take  them  in  their  order: 

1,  indicates  neatness  and  form. 

NOTE:  The  notes  from  which  this  paper  was  copied  had  become  obliterated  in 
places,  so  that  it  may  well  be  that  the  writer's  meaning  has  not  been  brought  forth  in 
these  few  places. 

It  is  evident  that  neatness  and  form  are  matters  of  convention, 
and  are  somewhat  arbitrary  in  their  nature;  but  it  is  also  self-evident 
that  if  some  particular  standard  of  neatness  and  good  form  is  insisted 
upon  by  all  teachers  much  better  results  will  be  obtained  than  if  each 
teacher  has  a  different  standard  and  requirement.  Immediate  im- 
provement will  result  if  the  teachers  will  return  immediately  to  the 
pupil,  without  credit,  every  paper  which  grossly  violates  the  standard: 
With  regard  to  standard  No.  1,  note  of  attention  to  paper,  which 
should  be  smooth,  uniform  size,  clean,  straight  edge.  With  regard 
to  personal  data,  their  position,  name;  home-room,  date;  whether  in 
or  out  of  class,  etc. 

If  some  such  requirements  are  not  made — the  appearance  is  re- 
pulsive and  tends  toward  slovenly  work  and  confused  thought. 
It  is  said  indeed  that  genius  is  careless,  but  many  of  our  children 
are  not  geniuses. 

2.  Penmanship — careful,  legible:    2  at  head  of  paper  in  red  means 
rejected  for  poor  penmanship;  1,  rejected  for  inattention  to  form;  3, 
for  bad  spelling;  4,     ... 


138  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

5.  In  or  out  of  class.     (The  paper  may  be  referred  to  later  and  we 
may  wish  to  know  the  conditions  under  which  it  was  written.) 

6.  Class  and  division,  N.  B.     All  these  with  punctuation,     .     .     . 

7.  Subject — position  of  that  and  all  the  others.     Other  positions 
might  be  chosen,  but  this  arrangement  has  certain  distinct  advantages. 

8.  Margin  and  indention. 

9.  Ink. 

Caps,  for  simple  rules  as  for  5,  E  means  Eng.  Gram,  condensed. 
Many  subheads  might  be  used  here  if  found  necessary  or  desirable; 
viz.,  6  la  subj.  is  sing,  and  ought  to  be  plu.  But  one  advantage  of 
this  system  is  that  the  pupil  soon  becomes  so  familiar  with  the  general 
rules  that  he  quickly  tracks  down  the  error  without  having  it  "caught 
and  held"  for  him,  so  to  speak. 

7,  8,  9,  10.  Unity  is  the  principle  insisted  upon  here.  But  unity 
is  the  very  essence  of  mathematics  and  the  sciences.  So  I  submit 
that  these  standards  are  serviceable  alike  to  the  teacher  of  science 
and  to  the  teacher  of  language. 

11,  12  refer  to  the  higher  literary  qualities,  value  for  other  depts., 
etc. 

If  the  teacher  does  not  wish  to  reject,  he  returns  to  the  pupil  to 
mark  with  black  lead  pencil  each  error  with  the  figure  which  represents 
the  standard  violated  and  then  to  sum  up  and  tabulate  the  errors  at 
the  end.  Then  comes  the  teacher's  estimate  of  the  pupils  self-criti- 
cism. This  work  may  be  done  very  rapidly  and  with  great  accuracy 
viz.,  1,  3,  5. 

SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL 
English:  Topic  Syllabus  for  Written  Work,  1912-1913 

A.  Letter  Writing: 

(1)  School;  e.  g.,  Notes  of  Request  to  Teachers,  Complaints, 

etc. 

(2)  Business  Letters;  e.  g.,  Orders  to  Grocery,  Dry-Goods  Store, 

etc.     Complaints  in  regard  to  Goods  Sent,  etc.     Replies  to 
Advertisements . 

(3)  Types  of  Superscriptions:  business,  social. 

(4)  Telegrams,  Cablegrams. 

(5)  Brief  Advertisements. 

(6)  Social  Letters:  informal,  formal. 

B.  Exercises  in  Spelling  and  Defining.     Lists  of  Words  Commonly 

Misspelled,  or  Incorrectly  Used.     Lists,  also  of  Common  Busi- 
ness and  Industrial  Terms. 

C.  Exercises  in  Use  of  Capitals. 

D.  Exercises   in   Punctuation:   period,   comma,   semi-colon,   colon, 

apostrophe,  quotation  marks,  interrogation  point. 

E.  Elements  of  Grammar;  Sentence  Structure. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  139 

F.  Elementary  Rhetoric,  Figures  of  Speech:  simile,  metaphor,  irony, 

personification,  metonymy,  contrast,  climax. 

G.  Types  of  Tests  in  Text-study. 

H.  Book-Reports — Not  on  Novels  only,  but  also  on  Lives  of  Great 
Patriots,  Great  Business  Men,  on  Industry,  Trade,  Geography 
and  Travel,  etc. 

I.  Themes  in  Descriptive  Narration,  Exposition  and  Argumentation. 
In  addition  to  the  ordinary  topics,  to  emphasize  and  encourage 
topics  with  a  Vocational  Trend;  and  especially  those  bearing 
on  Boston  (and  South  Boston);  Trade  and  Industry: — high- 
ways, boulevards,  machines,  mills,  warehouses,  stores,  docks, 
waterways,  means  of  handling  freight,  pictures,  art;  art- 
manufactures,  etc. 

J.  Principles  of  Rhetoric  and  Composition;  Paragraph  Structure, 
Topic  Sentence,  Unity,  Coherence,  Force,  Beauty,  Originality. 

K.  History  of  American  and  English  Literature. 

L.  Quotations:  prose,  poetry. 

A  king  can  make  a  belted  knight, 

A  marquis,  duke,  and  a'  that, 
But  an  honest  man's  aboon  his  might 

Guid  faith,  he  mauna  fa'  that. 

— Burns. 

His  life  was  gentle;   and  the  elements 

So  mixed  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world,  "This  was  a  Man! 

— Shakespere. 


APPLICATION. 

ENGLISH  HIGH  SCHOOL, 

February  12,  1906. 
THE  HONORABLE,  THE  SCHOOL  BOARD, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Gentlemen: 

While  I  have  designedly  ignored  attacks  from  a  source  which  is  not 
disinterested,  I  have  been  advised  to  furnish  you  with  the  following 
letters,  which,  in  addition  to  those  already  placed  in  your  charge, 
tend  to  show  that  temperamentally,  as  in  every  other  way,  I  am 
entirely  capable  of  cordially  co-operating  with  others;  and,  further- 
more, to  act  thus  is  quite  in  accord  with  my  disposition,  my  custom 
and  my  character. 

The  writers  of  these  letters  have  had  amplest  personal  knowledge 
of  me  in  the  matters  of  which  they  speak,  which  matters,  taken 
together,  embrace  all  the  relations  and  activities  of  my  life  in  Boston. 


140  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

I  send  you  copies,  as  more  convenient  for  use;  but  the  originals,  of 
course,  are  at  your  instant  disposal,  if  you  wish  them. 
Respectfully  yours, 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 

RECENT  LETTERS 

EAST  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL, 

BOSTON,  February  3,  1906. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

This  is  to  certify  that  during  the  school  year  1904-5  I  was  associated 
with  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  of  the  Public  School  Art  League  of  Boston, 
in  providing  art  decorations  for  our  public  school  building,  and  that 
our  relations  were  characterized  by  uniform  courtesy  and  considera- 
tion on  his  part. 

(Signed)     JOHN  F.  ELIOT, 

Head  Master. 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS 
Massachusetts  Normal  Art  School 

NEWBURY,  COR.  EXETER  ST.,  BOSTON, 
GEORGE  H.  BARTLETT,  February  6,  1906. 

Principal. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

In  reply  to  your  favor,  I  beg  to  say  that  I  have  in  mind  the  summer 
of  1903, 1  believe  it  was  in  July  of  that  year,  that  the  National  Educa- 
tional Association  held  their  Convention  in  Boston.  I  certainly  shall 
never  forget  the  excessive  heat,  and  although  poor  humanity  was 
sweltering  at  that  time  you  were  suddenly  called  upon  by  the  executive 
committee  of  that  Association  to  organize  the  Fine  Arts  Department, 
and  I  believe  I  am  right  in  saying  that  it  was  on  the  very  eve  of  the 
Convention.  The  program  of  the  proceedings  had  already  been  made 
out,  but  you  did  not  allow  these  difficult  conditions  to  handicap  you 
but  at  once  organized  a  committee  and  arranged  for  a  series  of  lectures, 
which  were  given.  You  also  provided  an  exhibition  in  the  Hunting- 
ton  Chambers,  which  was  well  attended,  and  to  add  to  this,  a  series 
of  visits  to  the  studios  of  prominent  artists,  besides  attending  to  the 
newspaper  end  of  the  matter. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  allow  me  to  say  that  I  know  of  no  man  who 
could  or  would  have  undertaken  such  a  task  at  such  short  notice. 
Your  quickness  of  perception  regarding  detail  and  promptness  of 
action  proved  to  me  that  you  were  a  man  that  possessed  intuitive 
executive  ability  and  would  at  any  time  be  equal  to  any  emergency 
that  should  call  for  quickness  of  action  and  grasp  of  detail. 
Faithfully  yours, 

(Signed)     G.  H.  BARTLETT. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  141 

AGASSIZ  SCHOOL, 
BOSTON,  January  30,  1906. 

For  a  number  of  years  I  met  Mr.  James  Mahoney  frequently  and 
consulted  him  in  connection  with  the  Boston  Public  School  Art  League. 
Our  relations  were  always  of  the  friendliest  character  and  I  prize 
his  acquaintance  very  much. 

(Signed)     JOHN  T.  GIBSON. 


PHILLIPS  BROOKS  SCHOOL, 
DORCHESTER,  January  31,  1906. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Charlesgate,  Suite  310,  Boston. 
My  dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

I  was  somewhat  surprised  at  your  statement  of  yesterday,  for  I 
know  you  only  as  a  gentleman — one  courteous  and  considerate  at  all 
times.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  anything 
further  unless  it  be  to  add  that  I  have  had  an  acquaintance  with  you, 
as  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  P.  S.  A.  L.,  covering 
several  years. 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     HENRY  B.  HALL. 


THOMAS  N.  HART  SCHOOL, 

BOSTON,  February  2,  1906. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

It  has  been  my  intention  for  some  time  to  write  you  a  letter  to 
tell  you  how  much  I  appreciated  your  extreme  kindness  and  courtesy 
during  the  interviews  and  correspondence  relative  to  the  Boston 
Public  School  Art  League,  of  which  you  are  a  prominent  member. 

It  was  all  the  more  marked  because  I  was  obliged  to  disappoint 
your  League  and  you  by  my  unwillingness  to  have  a  public  meeting 
at  the  time  you  suggested.     I  hope  our  meeting  in  this  matter  may 
be  the  beginning  of  a  long  and  pleasant  acquaintance. 
Yours  truly, 

(Signed)     JOHN  F.  DWIGHT. 

It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  know  Mr.  James  Mahoney  quite 
intimately  for  some  time  as  the  Secretary  of  an  Art  League  and  as 
teacher  and  friend. 

I  have  uniformly  found  him  to  be  a  genial,  courteous,  most  accom- 
modating, and  an  exceedingly  agreeable  gentleman. 

Because  he  has  shown  unusual  interest  and  devoted  much  time  to 
an  important  matter  pertaining  to  our  schools — the  beautifying  of 


142  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the   buildings — he   deserves  the   praise   and  the  confidence  of  all 
interested  in  our  schools. 

(Signed)     CHARLES  N.  BENTLEY, 

Oliver  Hazard  Perry  School. 
BOSTON,  February  2,  1906. 


January  30,  1906. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

I  take  much  pleasure  in  stating  that  your  services  in  behalf  of  the 
English  High  School  Association,  of  whose  executive  committee  you 
were  at  one  time  a  member,  were  marked,  and  you  displayed  much 
interest  and  energy  in  the  work.  As  an  ex -President  of  the  Associa- 
tion and  member  of  the  committee  for  many  years  I  have  been  in  a 
position  to  know  its  value.  Permit  me  to  add  that  our  relations  have 
always  been  most  pleasant,  and  you  have  my  best  wishes  for  success 
in  any  undertaking  upon  which  you  may  enter. 
Yours  truly, 

(Signed)     JOSEPH  M.  GIBBONS. 
JAMES  MAHONEY,  ESQ., 
"Charlesgate,"  Boston. 


Confidential. 

This  is  to  certify  that  I  have  known  Mr.  James  Mahoney  for 
fifteen  years  as  a  colleague  in  the  English  High,  and  believe  him  to 
be  devoted  and  able  in  his  work,  and  conscientious  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duty. 

He  is  a  man  of  unusual  ability  and  exceptional  force  of  character. 

(Signed)     WM.  T.  STRONG. 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

January  14,  1906. 


Confidential. 

ENGLISH  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
BOSTON,  January  15,  1906. 

My  relations  with  Mr.  James  Mahoney  during  the  past  eighteen 
years  have  uniformly  been  cordial,  and  in  all  our  intercourse  he  has 
shown  himself  a  perfect  gentleman. 

He  ranks  high  as  a  scholar,  and  his  ability  to  instruct  and  handle 
a  class  of  boys  has  been  first  class. 

My  room  has  always  been  near  his  so  that  I  have  had  a  fine  opportu- 
nity to  observe  and  pass  judgment. 

(Signed)     M.  J.  HILL. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  143 

BOSTON,  January  15,  1906. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  I  was  your  colleague  for  fourteen  years  at 
the  English  High  School  and  that  during  that  time  our  relations 
were  always  cordial,  above  board  and  those  of  gentlemen  imbued 
with  a  common  desire  to  devote  our  best  life  and  our  best  efforts  to 
the  betterment  of  the  youth  of  the  city,  I  am  impelled  to  write  you 
this  letter,  upon  learning  that  you  are  a  candidate  for  the  position 
of  supervisor  left  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Brooks. 

This  is  a  personal  letter  to  you,  in  a  sense  confidential,  yet  you  may 
use  it  as  you  see  fit.  In  it  I  simply  wish  to  bear  testimony  to  the 
high  regard  in  which  I  hold  you  as  a  man  and  as  an  educator.  I  have 
the  fullest  confidence  in  and  the  greatest  admiration  for  your  deep 
and  varied  attainments  as  a  scholar  and  for  your  uprightness  of 
character.  I  consider  that  the  judicial  turn  of  your  mind,  your 
grasp  of  the  true  inwardness  of  things,  and  the  knowledge  of  foreign 
schools  and  school  management,  obtained  by  you  while  abroad, 
cannot  but  be  of  great  benefit  to  the  schools  of  Boston. 

I  sincerely  hope  that  you  may  be  successful  in  your  aspiration  to 
enlarge  your  usefulness  to  the  city. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)     H.  C.  SHAW. 


BOSTON,  January  16,  1906. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

You  have  asked  me  to  state  what  my  relations  have  been  with 
you  during  the  past  eighteen  years  that  we  have  been  together  in  the 
E.H.  School. 

One  word  will  express  my  answer :  Our  relations  have  always  been 
most  pleasant  and  most  cordial. 

As  a  man,  as  a  teacher,  as  a  colleague  and  as  a  friend,  I  have  always 
found  you  ready  to  do  your  part,  and  it  is  because  of  all  that  that  I 
stayed  by  you  even  in  spite  of  threats  that  I  would  be  sorry  to  keep 
company  with  you;  threats  which  quickly  materialized  when  charges 
were  preferred  against  me  last  May,  before  the  High  School  Com- 
mittee. 

But  I  had  impartial  judges  who  recognized  as  did  yours  that  these 
attacks  were  altogether  based  on  calumny.  I  was  vindicated,  so 
were  you;  that  must  be  sufficient. 

We  have  both  done  our  work  to  the  best  of  our  ability;  let  us  con- 
tinue and  we  shall  find  in  our  hearts  our  reward. 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     CHAS.  P.  LEBON. 


144  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

18  ARMANDINE  ST.,  NEW  DORCHESTER,  MASS. 

January  16,  1906. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  James  Mahoney  extends  over  a  period 
of  nine  years.  Our  relations  with  each  other  have  always  been  of 
the  most  pleasant  character.  In  his  dealings  with  me  he  has  ever 
been  manly,  courteous,  obliging.  I  have  always  found  him  kind, 
gentlemanly,  and  ever  ready  in  his  manifestation  of  good  will  in  the 
many  ways  which  our  association  in  school  life  affords. 
Respectfully  yours, 

(Signed)     JOHN  J.  CADIGAN. 


MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

In  reply  to  your  kind  note  I  will  state  that  I  was  associated  with 
you  in  school  work  for  eleven  years  in  the  E.  H.  S.  The  last  four  or 
five  years  of  that  time  my  room  was  near  yours,  so  that  I  had  every 
opportunity  to  judge  for  myself  in  regard  to  the  discipline.  I  am 
happy  to  be  able  to  say,  from  my  own  observation  that  the  discipline 
was  perfect,  during  your  presence  and  in  your  absence  the  pupils 
were  perfectly  under  your  control.  I  know  that  there  is  no  more 
thorough  instructor  in  the  school  and  that  your  scholarship  is  of  the 
highest  class.  I  have  been  informed  on  trustworthy  authority  that 
you  have  also  a  profound  knowledge  of  law.  In  your  intercourse 
with  me,  you  have  always  been  a  perfect  gentleman,  kind  and  consid- 
erate in  word  and  action  and,  so  far  as  my  observation  goes,  that  has 
been  your  manner  toward  every  teacher.  I  do  not  know  any  one 
who  has  more  perfect  self-control. 

You  have  my  best  wishes  for  your  future. 
Cordially  yours, 

(Signed)     CHAS.  E.  STETSON. 
27  GRANITE  ST.,  QUINCY. 


ENGLISH  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
BOSTON,  January  15,  1906. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  certify  that  I  have  been  associated  with 
Mr.  James  Mahoney,  as  a  fellow-teacher,  in  the  English  High  School 
since  September,  1888. 

Mr.  Mahoney  possesses  excellent  ability  as  a  teacher,  accuracy 
and  breadth  as  a  scholar,  combined  with  strength  in  discipline  and 
dignity  of  deportment  seldom  equaled.  I  believe  Mr.  Mahoney  to 
be  thoroughly  conscientious  in  his  work,  and,  so  far  as  it  is  in  my 
power  to  judge,  always  punctual  and  prompt  at  his  post  of  duty,  and 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  145 

anxious,  above  all  things,  to  develop  manhood  and  gentlemanly 
qualities  in  his  pupils. 

Respectfully, 

(Signed)     CHARLES  B.  TRAVIS, 

Master  in  E.H.S. 

To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

This  may  certify  that  a  few  years  ago  Mr.  James  Mahoney  and 
myself  were  thrown  into  close  relations  in  connection  with  "The 
Public  School  Art  League." 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  say  that  all  our  relations  were  of  the  most  agree- 
able character. 

Very  respectfully, 

BOWDOIN  SCHOOL,  (Signed)     ALONZO  MESERVE, 

January  22,  1906.  Principal. 

MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Master,  English  High  School. 
Dear  Sir: 

Your  favor  of  the  22nd  inst.  is  at  hand. 

Although  I  never  do  or  say  anything  intended  to  influence  the 
choice  of  my  superiors  I  am  happy  to  say  that  your  dealings  with  me 
in  connection  with  the  placing  of  some  $600  worth  of  works  of  art  in 
this  school  by  the  Public  School  Art  League  were  most  honorable 
and  I  retain  very  pleasant  recollections  of  our  business  relations  at 
that  time. 

Hoping  you  are  enjoying  good  health  and  have  a  pleasant  class  of 
pupils  this  year,  I  am 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

(Signed)     WILLIAM  B.  ATWOOD, 

Master,  Frothingham  School. 
CHARLESTOWN, 

January  23,  1906. 

I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  state  my  opinion  that  Mr.  James 
Mahoney  would  serve  with  efficiency  in  the  office  of  Superintendent 
of  Schools. 

From  an  experience  of  a  number  of  years  upon  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Public  School  Art  League,  with  Mr.  Mahoney,  I 
have  found  him  to  be  most  earnest  and  fair-minded;  and  on  many 
occasions  I  have  seen  him  deal  with  a  difficult  situation  with  considera- 
tion and  tact. 

(Signed)     J.  T.  COOLIDGE,  JR. 
114  BEACON  ST.,  BOSTON. 
January  16,  1906. 
11 


146  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

ROXBURY,  MASS., 

January  20,  1906. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

This  may  certify  that  I  have  personally  known  Mr.  James  Mahoney 
since  1877,  when  he  was  a  pupil  of  name  in  North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
As  a  pupil  he  was  singularly  faithful  and  capable;  in  fact,  I  should 
rank  him  as  one  of  the  six  ablest  pupils  I  have  had  in  thirty  years  of 
teaching.  I  know  that  since  then  he  has  been  a  constant  student, 
covering  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  ambitious  to  excel  in  whatever  he 
undertook.  As  a  result  I  consider  him,  to-day,  one  of  the  most 
scholarly  men  I  know,  with  a  breadth  of  scholarship  and  an  accuracy 
of  information  exceedingly  rare.  In  my  judgment  Mr.  Mahoney 
cannot  fail  to  adorn  any  position  where  such  scholarship  is  essential. 

(Signed)     CHARLES  M.  CLAY. 


BOSTON,  January  17,  1906. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

Mr.  James  Mahoney  served  with  me  formerly  on  the  board  of 
government  of  the  English  High  School  Association.  His  relations 
with  the  other  members  and  with  myself  were  always  harmonious 
and  agreeable. 

I  have  no  knowledge  to  the  contrary.  I  was  at  the  time  secretary 
of  the  Association. 

(Signed)     WM.  H.  MORIARTY. 


23  PEMBROKE  STREET,  NEWTON, 

January  22,  1906. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

While  Mr.  James  Mahoney  was  associated  with  the  Board  of 
Government  of  the  English  High  School  Association  of  Boston, 
some  years  ago,  of  which  I  have  served  as  Treasurer  since  1872, 
I  learned  to  respect  his  ability,  erudition,  judicial  temperament  and 
universal  urbanity  of  manner. 

I  found  him  to  be  a  perfect  gentleman  in  the  strictest  meaning  of 
that  term,  and  have  enjoyed  his  acquaintance  all  these  years.  The 
expression  of  his  convictions  while  firm  were  always  gentle  and  kindly. 
I  should  consider  him  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  Board  of  Super- 
visors in  these  days  when  so  many  educators  are  tempted  to  maneuver 
for  position  rather  than  eminence  in  their  profession. 
Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)     WM.  H.  PARTRIDGE. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  147 

August  30,  1904. 
To  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  NOMINATION  OF  SUPERVISOR  OF  THE  BOSTON 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS, 
Mason  Street,  Boston. 
Gentlemen: 

I  have  for  some  years  known  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  a  candidate 
for  the  position  of  Supervisor  of  the  Boston  Public  Schools,  and  con- 
sider him  an  excellent  man  in  every  way  for  the  position.  From 
long  experience  and  other  mental  attributes  I  think  he  is  especially 
well  fitted.  He  is  perfectly  able  physically,  in  my  opinion,  to  attend 
to  the  duties  of  the  position. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)     M.  H.  RICHARDSON. 


JOSEPH  A.  SHEEHAN 

Counsellor  at  Law 

53  State  Street,  Boston. 

BOSTON,  May  26,  1906. 
JAMES  MAHONEY,  ESQ., 

535  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

The  ambition,  which  animates  every  real  man  to  advance  in  his 
chosen  profession,  is  a  laudable  one  and  ought  to  meet  with  encour- 
agement, in  the  absence  of  good  and  substantial  reason  to  the  contrary. 

With  that  thought  in  mind,  I  am  pleased  to  express  my  belief  and 
confidence  in  your  ability  and  capacity  to  fill  any  position  to  which 
you  might  be  chosen  in  the  educational  system  of  Boston,  with  credit 
to  yourself  and  to  the  advantage  of  our  schools. 

It  will  not  be  gainsaid,  I  believe,  that  you  are  thoroughly  competent 
from  a  scholarly  point  of  view.  Those  who  oppose  your  advance- 
ment do  so  because  of  what  they  term  "temperamental"  objections. 
This  idea,  I  think,  arises  out  of  the  conditions  which  have  surrounded 
you  in  your  work  during  the  past  few  years.  Because  you  have  not 
remained  passive  and  undisturbed  under  what  you  have  regarded  as 
unjust  treatment,  but  have  at  times  manifested  indignation  as  would 
every  true  and  useful  man  under  like  conditions,  your  opponents  urge 
that  you  should  not  be  advanced.  In  fairness,  the  objection  pre- 
sented, should  not  militate  against  you. 

From  my  knowledge  of  you  acquired  as  a  pupil  under  your  in- 
struction in  the  English  High  School  sixteen  years  ago,  and  my  ac- 
quaintance with  you  since,  I  am  convinced  that  if  you  were  advanced 
in  the  service,  in  the  fullness  of  your  power,  the  objection  which  has 
been  raised  against  you  would  readily  fade  away;  that  you  would 
demonstrate  to  your  superiors  by  the  manner  and  quality  of  your 


148  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

work,  as  well  as  by  your  personal  stability,  the  wisdom  of  their  choice, 
which  I  feel  would  meet  with  the  approval  of  all  fair  and  impartial 
critics. 

Sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     JOSEPH  A.  SHEEHAN. 

MOORS  &  CABOT 
111  Devonshire  Street 

John  F.  Moors  Bond  department 

Charles  M.  Cabot  in  charge  of 

C.  Lee  Todd  Francis  E.  Smith 

BOSTON,  February  14,  1906. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

I  am  glad  of  the  chance  to  show  that  I  appreciated  having  you  for 
a  teacher  when  I  was  in  the  English  High  School.  I  feel  that  you  were 
impartial,  and  well  know  that  it  was  almost  never  possible  to  impose 
upon  you.  I  remember  that  your  history  lessons  were  well  taught. 

There  are  three  things  about  your  hours  that  still  stand  out  strongly : 

1 .  Your  love  for  fresh  air,  and  your  care  that  we  should  begin  your 
hour  with  a  well-ventilated  room. 

2.  Your  teaching  us  to  write  about  our  history  subjects  in  short, 
concise  sentences.     You  emphasized  this  point  so  strongly  that  I 
have  remembered  and  profited  by  it  in  business. 

3.  Most  of  all  I  remember  your  great  disgust  for  anything  dirty  or 
"smutty."     It  is  a  fine  thing  for  a  pupil  to  have  not  only  a  teacher 
who  teaches  well,  but  one  who  also  holds  him  up  as  much  as  possible 
to  good  clean  ideas. 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)     FRANCIS  E.  SMITH. 

GOULSTON  &  STORKS 
ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW 

17  MILK  STREET,  BOSTON,  MASS., 

January  27,  1906. 
JAMES  MAHONEY,  ESQ., 

University  Club,  Beacon  St.,  Boston. 
My  dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  you  are  a  candidate  for  the 
position  of  Supervisor  in  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  Public 
Schools  of  the  City  of  Boston. 

I  want  to  take  this  opportunity  to  express  to  you  my  earnest  hope 
that  the  School  Committee  will  elect  you  to  fill  the  vacancy  which  now 
exists  in  the  Board.  I  look  back  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to  our 
relations  as  master  and  pupil  in  the  English  High  School,  and  I  remem- 
ber you  as  a  teacher  whom  we  all  respected  and  esteemed.  Your 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  149 

control  of  the  pupils  and  your  ability  to  impart  knowledge  which  you 
possessed  to  them  made  you,  in  my  estimation,  one  of  the  most  com- 
petent and  valuable  teachers  in  the  old  English  High  School. 

In  your  relations  with  your  pupils  I  have  always  found  you  to  be 
honorable,  fair  and  just,  and,  above  all,  a  perfect  gentleman. 
Wishing  you  every  possible  success,  I  beg  to  remain, 

Very  cordially  yours, 
(Signed)     LEOPOLD  M.  GOULSTON. 

FALVET  BROTHERS  Co. 
FALVEY  BUILDING 
BROADWAY  AND  F  STREET 

SOUTH  BOSTON,  MASS., 

January  9,  1906. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

Understanding  that  you  are  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  Super- 
visor for  the  schools  of  the  City  of  Boston,  it  affords  me  great  pleasure 
to  write  a  few  words,  trusting  that  they  will  prove  beneficial  in  adding 
to  your  success. 

While  I  was  a  pupil  under  you,  in  the  High  School,  I  must  say  that 
no  other  teacher  was  more  thorough  in  his  teachings  or  more  impartial 
in  his  manner. 

I  sincerely  hope  that  you  will  be  successful  in  your  endeavors  to 
obtain  this  position. 

Trusting  you  are  well  and  with  kindest  wishes,  I  remain 

Sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     HENRY  E.  FALVEY. 

Louis  F.  GATES 

Attorney  and  Counsellor-at-Law 

1101-2  Barristers  Hall 

Boston,  Mass. 

February  21,  1906. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Hotel  Charlesgate,  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

I  am  informed  that  you  are  desirous  of  obtaining  the  vacant  super- 
visorship  of  the  Boston  Schools  and  I  write  to  wish  you  all  success  in 
obtaining  this  position. 

In  looking  back  over  my  school  days  and  in  recollection  of  the 
teachers  with  whom  I  came  in  contact  I  know  of  no  one,  in  my  opinion, 
who  can  fill  that  place  as  well  as  yourself. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  position  needs  a  man  who  has  a  wide  range 


150  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

of  knowledge  together  with  dignity  and  tact,  much  more  so  than  a 
man  who  is  confining  his  efforts  to  teaching,  and  from  my  experience 
in  your  room  I  am  fully  convinced  that  you  have  these  attributes  in  a 
marked  degree. 

Again  wishing  you  all  success  and  with  every  assurance  that  I  will 
do  anything  I  can  for  you  at  any  time,  I  am 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     Louis  F.  GATES. 

LASKER  &  BERNSTEIN 
161  William  Street 

MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY,  NEW  YORK,  January  30, 1906. 

Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  just  heard  that  you  are  a  candidate  for  Supervisor  of  the 
Public  Schools  of  Boston,  and  I  am  hastening  to  offer  you  my  very 
best  wishes  for  your  success. 

I  will  always  remember  with  pleasure  the  two  years  under  which  I 
studied  with  you,  and  the  other  two  years  which  I  spent  in  the  Eng- 
lish High  School,  in  which  I  did  not  have  the  pleasure  of  being  in  any 
of  your  classes. 

I  do  not  need  to  add  that  I  consider  you  thoroughly  competent  to 
fill  this  important  position,  for  I  am  sure  that  every  one  who  has 
come  into  personal  contact  with  you  must  be  convinced  of  this  fact 
at  the  first  meeting. 

I  have  heard  that  you  have  been  attacked  in  several  instances 
regarding  your  manner  of  conducting  your  classes,  which  certainly 
seems  to  me  to  be  as  unfounded  and  as  unjust  an  accusation  as  I  have 
ever  heard,  for  in  all  my  experiences  with  you  I  can  only  speak  of  you 
in  the  very  highest  terms,  both  as  a  teacher  and  as  a  gentleman. 

Again  wishing  you  all  possible  success,  and  assuring  you  of  my  will- 
ingness to  aid  you  in  your  candidacy  with  any  means  in  my  power,  I 
remain, 

Very  truly  yours, 
(Signed)     MILTON  L.  BERNSTEIN. 

THE  CONSOLIDATION  COAL  COMPANY 

Georges  Creek  Cumberland  Coal 

50  CONGRESS  STREET 

BOSTON 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY,  February  12, 1906. 

The  Charlesgate,  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

Having  been  advised  that  you  are  out  for  a  place  on  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  of  Schools  in  Boston,  I  hasten  to  extend  to  you  my  best 
wishes  for  your  success. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  151 

It  is  with  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  that  I  look  back  on  the  old  Eng- 
lish High  School  days,  especially  while  under  your  jurisdiction,  and  I 
can  speak  for  the  other  fellows  with  whom  I  came  in  contact,  when  I 
say  that  you  always  treated  us  squarely  and  showed  us  every  consid- 
eration. 

With  very  best  wishes,  I  am, 

Sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     GEO.  P.  OSWOLD. 

HENRY  W.  SAVAGE 
Boston  Real  Estate        Insurance,  Mortgages 

7    Pemberton   Square 
F.  H.  Purington,  Manager. 

BOSTON,  February  9,  1906. 
My  dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

Although  it  has  been  some  years  since  my  graduation  from  the 
English  High  School,  I  have  always  remembered  with  much  pleasure 
the  courteous,  just  treatment  I  received  from  you  while  I  was  a 
scholar  there. 

I  consider  myself  fortunate  to  be  placed  under  your  especial  charge 
during  my  first  year  in  the  school,  and  feel  sure  that  the  other  boys 
appreciated  as  much  as  I  the  square,  man-to-man  fashion  with  which 
you  invariably  dealt  with  all  of  us. 
With  best  regards,  I  remain, 

Cordially  yours, 

(Signed)     FRANK  H.  PURINGTON. 

CLAUDE  L.  ALLEN 

Attorney  and  Counsellor-at-Law 

717-721  Old  South  Building 

294  Washington  Street 

Boston,  Mass., 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY,  February  12,  1906. 

535  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

I  understand  that  you  are  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  Supervisor 
of  Schools,  and  if  I  can  assist  you  in  any  way,  it  would  be  a  pleasure 
for  me  to  do  so. 

As  you  well  know,  I  have  always  had  a  great  deal  of  respect  for  you 
as  a  man;  and  confidence  in  your  ability  in  your  chosen  profession 
ever  since  I  received  instruction  from  you  in  the  good  old  English 
High,  some  twelve  years  ago. 

Hoping  that  you  may  be  successful  in  securing  the  position  which 
I  know  you  would  fill  with  credit  to  yourself  and  satisfaction  to  the 
city,  I  remain, 

Sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     CLAUDE  L.  ALLEN. 


152  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

A.  SILVER  EMERSON 

Counsellor-at-Law 

6  Beacon  Street        Room  827 

Boston 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  February  9,  1906. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Hotel  Charlesgate,  535  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  you  are  a  candidate  for  supervisorship  of 
the  Boston  Public  Schools.  Have  been  a  pupil  of  yours  at  the  E.  H.  S. 
in  1895  and  again  in  1898,  both  in  History  and  in  German;  and  must 
confess  that  your  instruction  was  highly  appreciated.  It  was  im- 
pressive and  could  stand  the  most  vital  criticism.  I  know  of  several 
who  have  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  received  at  the 
school  at  that  time  and  have  since  united  theory  and  practice,  espe- 
cially in  the  German  language.  I  can  also  recall  your  Latin  and 
Greek  translation. 

If  the  School  Committee  of  the  City  of  Boston  can  procure  a  scholar 
of  half  the  literary  excellence  and  ability  in  all  ways  possessed  by  you, 
it  ought  to  congratulate  itself. 

Hoping  that  you  will  be  their  choice  in  this  coming  election,  I  beg 
to  remain, 

Your  friend  and  pupil, 

(Signed)     A.  SILVER  EMERSON. 

743  EAST  BROADWAY,  SOUTH  BOSTON,  MASS. 

May  24,  1913. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

***** 

1st.  I  was  a  member  of  the  High  School  Committee  at  the  time 
above  mentioned. 

2nd.  I  remember  well  the  hearing;  the  part  which  Mr.  Peterson, 
Supervisor,  took  in  the  hearing  impresses  me  even  at  this  late  date. 
He  said  he  considered  you  the  best  teacher  of  History  in  this  country. 
***** 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     WILLIAM  J.  GALLIVAN. 

May  29,  1913. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

I  have  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  James  Mahoney  since  1904  at 
which  time  I  became  a  member  of  the  Boston  School  Committee.  Mr. 
Mahoney  at  that  time  was  a  teacher  in  the  Boston  High  School.  He 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  153 

had  the  reputation  of  being  a  brilliant  scholar  and  a  most  excellent 
teacher. 

He  was  a  candidate  for  the  position  of  school  supervisor  during 
this  year  and  in  looking  over  his  credentials  Drs.  McDonald,  Harkins, 
Keenan  and  myself  were  satisfied  that  he  was  eminently  qualified  for 
the  position.  We  found  that  Mr.  Mahoney  was  a  graduate  of  Am- 
herst  College,  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  Germany,  a  graduate  stu- 
dent of  Johns  Hopkins  University  and  of  Harvard  University,  and  his 
record  as  a  teacher  was  first  class. 

He  was  genial,  gentlemanly,  level-headed  and  enthusiastic  and 
therefore  we  supported  him  as  a  candidate  for  the  supervise rship. 
Although  Mr.  Mahoney  was  not  elected  I  have  always  felt  that  I 
have  never  had  occasion  to  change  my  opinion  of  him.  I  firmly 
believe  that  there  is  no  man  connected  with  the  Boston  Schools  in  an 
educational  capacity  who  is  better  qualified  in  scholarship,  good  judg- 
ment and  capacity  for  imparting  knowledge  than  Mr.  Mahoney. 

Drs.  McDonald  and  Harkins  are  now  dead  but  their  opinion  of 
Mr.  Mahoney's  abilities  were  the  same  as  mine.  I  hope  this  tribute 
to  his  ability,  his  sense  of  justice  and  his  gentlemanly  instincts  may 
help  to  bring  him  the  reward  which  he  deserves. 

(Signed)     JOHN  H.  KENNEALY,  M.  D. 
BROOKLINE, 

11 7  Harvard  St., 


CHAPTER  VII 

One,  who  never  turned  his  back,  but  marched  breast  forward. 
Never  doubted  clouds  would  break, 

Never  dreamed,  though  right  were  worsted,  wrong  would  triumph, 
Held  we  fall  to  rise,  are  baffled  to  fight  better,  sleep  to  wake. 

— Browning. 

He  taught,  but  first  he  followed  it  him-selve. 

— Chaucer. 

LETTERS  URGING  MAHONEY  FOR  PRINCIPALSHIP  IN  SOUTH  BOSTON 

HIGH 

In  1907,  James  Mahoney  was  promoted  to  be  head  of  the  English 
department  in  the  South  Boston  High  School.  In  1914  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  headmastership  in  the  same  school.  The  appended 
documents  are  in  connection  with  the  latter  application. 


JAMES  J.  PHELAN 
60  Congress  Street 

Boston 
JAMES  MAHONEY,  ESQ.,  January  31,  1914. 

72  G  St.,  South  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

Having  heard  that  Mr.  Augustus  D.  Small,  now  principal  of  the 
South  Boston  High  School,  was  to  resign  that  position  next  June,  and 
knowing  of  your  connection  with  the  school  for  the  past  seven  years 
as  head  of  the  English  Department,  and  realizing  your  worthiness  as 
a  successor  to  Mr.  Small,  I  have  this  day  taken  it  upon  myself  to 
write  to  Michael  H.  Corcoran,  George  E.  Brock,  Dr.  David  D.  Scan- 
nell,  Jeremiah  E.  Burke,  Frank  V.  Thompson,  and  Augustine  L. 
Rafter  asking  them  for  their  kind  consideration  of  your  qualifications 
as  the  logical  successor  to  Mr.  Small. 

I  have  also  written  Judge  Joseph  D.  Fallon,  Col.  Edward  L.  Logan, 
Dr.  John  F.  O'Brien,  Mr.  John  S.  Flanagan,  and  Mr.  Joseph  E.  Dono- 
van, soliciting  their  support  in  your  behalf.  I  did  this  latter,  realiz- 
ing that  these  gentlemen  know  you  well,  and  would  be  material  assist- 
ance in  pushing  your  cause. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)     JAMES  J.  PHELAN. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  155 

John  J.  Toomey,  President  Directors 

Walter  Jenney     1  Vice-  Albert  R.  Benks 

Samuel  Sullivan  J  Presidents  David  W.  Creed 

James  E.  Coveney,  Secretary  A  Frank  Gregory 

Thomas  E.  Saint,  Treasurer  Charles  P.   Mooney 

Basil  Gavin 
Dr.  Wm.  P.  Cross 
TRADE  ASSOCIATION' 
OF  SOUTH  BOSTON 

SOUTH  BOSTON,  MASS., 

SUPT.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER,  May  23,  1914. 

School  Department,  City  of  Boston 

Mason  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

The  Trade  Association  of  South  Boston,  having  recently  learned 
that  there  is  to  be  a  vacancy  of  Headmaster  in  the  South  Boston  High 
School  after  the  present  term,  have  discussed  the  matter  which  is  of 
such  vital  importance  to  our  district.  At  our  recent  meeting  it  was 
voted  unanimously  to  write  you  our  hearty  endorsement  of  Mr.  James 
Mahoney  and  urge  his  consideration  by  you  when  the  vacancy  is  to 
be  filled. 

Mr.  Mahoney  is  a  resident  of  South  Boston,  is  well  known  to  our 
people  and  held  in  high  esteem.     For  many  years  he  has  been  a  Mas- 
ter in  our  High  School  and  he  knows  the  district,  is  familiar  with  the 
school,  its  pupils  and  teachers,  and  there  is  abundance  of  evidence 
showing  his  efficiency,  and  his  ability  to  fill  this  important  position. 
Hoping  for  a  favorable  consideration  of  his  name, 
Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     JAMES  E.  COVENEY, 

Secretary. 

THE  EVANGELICAL  ALLIANCE  OF  GREATER  BOSTON 

Established  1874         Incorporated  1911 
An  Interdenominational  Organization 
President 
Rev.  James  Todd,  D.  D. 

BOSTON,  MASS.,  May  9,  1914. 
To  DR.  DYER, 

Supt.  of  Public  Schools,  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Dr.  Dyer: 

Indisposition  has  prevented  me  from  calling  on  you  at  your  office. 
So  I  write  to  heartily  recommend  Professor  Mahoney  as  a  suitable 
successor  to  Principal  Small  of  the  South  Boston  High  School  who,  I 
understand,  is  to  retire. 

I  have  been  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  South  Boston  for 
ten  years,  and  have  had  many  opportunities  for  knowing  Mr.  Mahoney 
and  his  work  as  teacher  of  English  in  the  above  named  school;  and 


156  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

believe  him  to  be  a  man  of  high  character,  and  culture,  and  scholar- 
ship well  qualified  for  the  position  of  Principal  of  our  South  Boston 
High  School. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     JAMES  TODD. 

BOSTON  UNIVERSITY  LAW  SCHOOL 
Ashburton  Place 
Office  of  the  Dean 

DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER,  April  25,  1914. 

Superintendent  of  Schools, 

Mason  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Dr.  Dyer: 

Information  has  come  to  me  that  in  the  near  future  there  are  likely 
to  be  several  head-masterships  vacant  in  the  Boston  schools.  Will 
you  pardon  me  if  I  commend  to  your  attention,  my  friend,  James 
Mahoney,  now  head  of  the  English  Department  of  the  South  Boston 
High  School.  I  have  known  Mr.  Mahoney  very  favorably  for  almost 
twenty  years,  and  I  have  a  very  high  respect  for  his  scholarly  attain- 
ments and  his  industry.  He  apparently  has  executive  ability,  but  I 
have  not  personally  been  brought  into  contact  with  that  part  of  his 
characteristics.  I  have,  however,  heard  of  him  in  that  manner,  and 
believe  he  has  the  requisite  executive  ability.  No  doubt  his  record 
in  the  School  will  be  the  best  evidence  of  that.  His  integrity  and 
honesty  are  beyond  all  question. 

Something  over  twenty  years  ago,  I  think  it  was,  I  tutored  him  in 
Law,  and  I  was  impressed  with  his  patient  endeavor  to  get  at  the 
foundation  of  things,  and  weigh  both  sides  of  propositions  and  mat- 
ters that  were  presented  to  him,  without  being  hasty  in  jumping  at 
conclusions.  I  am  sure  I  don't  know  what  his  politics  may  be,  for  I 
have  never  seen  him  obtrude  any  partisan  notions  of  any  kind. 

I  hope  circumstances  will  permit  your  serious  consideration  of  his 
name  for  a  position  as  head  master. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)     HOMER  ALBERS, 
Dean. 

Bernard  Jenney,  President  E.  J.  Diloway,  Treasurer 

Walter  Jenney,  Vice-President 
JENNET  MANUFACTURING  Co. 
Established  in  1812 

BOSTON,  May  4,  1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER,  SUPT., 
Mason  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  been  told  that  there  is  soon  to  be  a  vacancy  in  the  position 
of  head  master  of  the  South  Boston  High  School  and  presuming  such 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  157 

to  be  the  case  I  take  the  liberty  of  urging  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
James  Mahoney. 

As  you  perhaps  know,  Mr.  Mahoney  is  a  graduate  of  Amherst  and 
also  studied  as  postgraduate  at  Johns  Hopkins  and  University  of 
Berlin,  Germany,  and  has  since  taught  several  years  at  Worcester, 
nineteen  years  at  the  English  High  School,  Boston,  and  I  believe  seven 
years  at  the  South  Boston  High  School  where  he  now  is. 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  ten  or  twelve  years'  acquaintance  with 
him  and  have  heard  much  of  him  from  two  of  my  sons  who  were  under 
his  instruction  at  the  English  High  School,  and  I  am  glad  to  testify 
that  he  has  always  been  held  in  the  very  highest  respect  by  the  boys. 
I  believe  this  is  one  of  the  best  recommendations  a  teacher  can  have. 
I  think  every  one  who  knows  him  can  testify  to  his  exceptional  knowl- 
edge of  the  particular  subjects  which  he  has  been  called  upon  to 
teach,  viz.,  English  and  History,  as  well  as  his  broad  general  knowl- 
edge, and  I  am  confident  that  if  appointed  to  the  position  he  would 
fill  it  with  honor  to  the  school  and  to  the  city.  I  believe  also  that  his 
appointment  would  be  most  satisfactory  to  the  parents  and  other 
residents  of  the  district. 

With  perfect  confidence  that  the  matter  will  receive  your  most 
careful  consideration,  I  am, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

(Signed)     WALTER  JENNEY, 
English  High  School,  Class  1872, 
Mass,  Institute  of  Technology,  Class  1877. 

SCHOOL  OF  COMMERCE  AND  FINANCE 
An   incorporated   Institution   of   College   Grade 
with  Degree  Granting  Privileges 
OFFICE  OF  THE  DEAN 

April  30,  1914. 

DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER,  SUPERINTENDENT, 
Boston  School  System, 

Mason  Street,  Boston. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  have  known  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  Head  of  the  English  Depart- 
ment of  the  South  Boston  High  School,  for  several  years,  and  I  have 
a  very  high  regard  for  his  scholarship,  ambition,  and  executive  ability. 
For  some  years  past  he  has  been  in  charge  of  the  educational  work  at 
the  Catholic  Literary  Union  of  Charlestown,  and  the  splendid  suc- 
cess attained  in  that  department  of  the  Union's  activities  is  due 
almost  entirely  to  Mr.  Mahoney 's  executive  ability  and  progressive 
policies. 

In  selecting  a  head  master  for  the  South  Boston  High  School,  I 
assume  that  you  will  favor  a  man  of  exemplary  habits,  who  possesses 
executive  ability,  and  who  has  a  large  appreciation  of  the  humani- 
tarian side  of  educational  work.  Mr.  Mahoney  is  such  a  man.  He  is 


158  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

progressive,  aggressive,  and  above  all — a  man  through  and  through. 
I  should  like  to  see  him  promoted  because  I  believe  it  would 
strengthen  the  effectiveness  of  the  South  Boston  High  School. 

If  you  desire,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  discuss  the  matter  with  you 
in  person. 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     H.  C.  BENTLEY, 

Dean. 

May  13, 1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 
Supt.  of  Schools, 

Mason  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.  Dyer: 

I  have  just  discovered  that  I  made  a  sad  error  in  my  letter  to  you 
yesterday  in  regard  to  Mr.  Mahoney,  whom  I  recommended  as  a  candi- 
date for  Superintendent  of  Schools  instead  of  Head  Master  of  the 
South  Boston  High  School.  I  trust  that  my  error  will  not  jeopardize 
any  favorable  consideration  you  can  give  Mr.  Mahoney. 

As  I  wrote  you  before,  Mr.  Mahoney  has  been  identified  with  our 
South  Boston  Schools  for  a  long  time,  and  on  one  occasion  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  addressing  some  of  his  boys  who  were  preparing  for  a  busi- 
ness life,  and  I  have  always  felt  Mr.  Mahoney  was  a  man  eminently 
fitted  for  any  position  he  might  aspire  to  in  our  Public  Schools  as 
Master.  My  son,  who  was  a  pupil  of  his  some  years  ago,  called  my 
attention  to  the  fact  that  it  might  be  a  good  thing  to  write  you  hi  Mr. 
Mahoney's  behalf  but  I  misinterpreted  the  position. 

Regretting  the  mistake  I  made  in  my  former  letter,  I  beg  to  remain, 
Yours  truly, 

(Signed)     GEO.  F.  LAWLEY. 

Rupert  S.  Carven,  C.  P.  A.  Arthur  V.  Grimes,  C.  P.  A. 

CARVEN  &  GRIMES 

Certified  Public  Accountants 

181  Devonshire  Street 

BOSTON 

May  16,  1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

Superintendent  of  Schools,  Boston. 
Dear  Sir: 

Learning  of  a  probable  vacancy  in  the  Head-Mastership  of  the 
South  Boston  High  School,  I  am  taking  the  liberty  of  saying  a  few 
words  in  endorsement  of  Mr.  James  Mahoney  for  the  position. 

I  have  known  him  for  many  years  and  have  always  admired  him 
for  his  great  scholarship  and  ability. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  159 

It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  be  intimately  associated  with  him 
in  the  great  work  he  has  accomplished  for  the  young  men  of  Charles- 
town  in  the  Educational  Courses  of  the  Catholic  Literary  Union. 

During  my  term  as  an  Instructor,  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
knowing  Mr.  Mahoney  best  through  the  executive  ability  he  has 
displayed,  through  the  earnestness  he  has  shown  at  all  times,  and 
particularly,  through  the  kindly  interest  he  has  manifested  in  every 
pupil  of  this  Evening  School,  and  this  a  labor  of  love  on  his  part. 

Should  you  honor  Mr.  Mahoney  with  this  appointment,  I  feel  that 
the  Educational  Courses  under  your  able  direction  would  have 
another  Head-Master  who  would  be  a  credit  to  you  and  the  Boston 
School  Department.  Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)     RUPERT  S.  CARVEN,  C.  P.  A. 

FALVEY  BROTHERS 

Dry  Goods 
421-423  West  Broadway 

SOUTH  BOSTON,  MASS.,  May  13,  1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

Superintendent,  Boston  Public  Schools, 

Mason  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  view  of  the  reported  approaching  retirement  of  Mr.  Small  from 
the  Head-Mastership  of  the  South  Boston  High  School,  may  I  ask 
your  consideration  of  the  name  of  Mr.  James  Mahoney  for  appoint- 
ment as  his  successor? 

Mr.  Mahoney  was  my  teacher  in  the  English  High  School  seven 
years  ago,  and  he  has  always  impressed  me  as  a  very  capable  and 
high-minded  man.  Since  his  appointment  to  the  local  High  School 
he  has  resided  in  our  district,  and  he  is  respected  and  esteemed  by  our 
citizens. 

His  selection  would  to  my  mind  be  a  logical  promotion  for  a  well 
qualified  educator.  Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     HENRY  E.  FALVEY. 

PARKER,  WILDER  &  Co. 

Commission  Merchants 

4  Winthrop  Square  215  Fourth  Avenue 

Boston  New  York 

BOSTON,  May  18,  1914. 
MR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

Superintendent  of  Schools,  Mason  St.,  City. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  understand  that  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  formerly  of  the  Boston 
English  High  School,  is  a  candidate  for  the  position  as  head  master  in 
the  South  Boston  High  School. 


160  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

For  a  number  of  years  while  Mr.  Mahoney  was  a  teacher  in  the 
Boston  English  High  School,  I  was  a  pupil  in  his  room.  He  is  a  strict 
disciplinarian,  a  very  fine  teacher,  and  I  find  in  business  the  fact  of 
having  been  in  his  particular  classroom  for  a  few  years  has  served  me 
in  a  great  many  ways. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  add  my  letter  to  the  many  which  I 
know  you  will  receive  indorsing  Mr.  Mahoney 's  ability  to  fill  the  above 
position. 

Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)     FREDERICK  R.  BORGARDUS. 

JOHN  WINTHROP  SCHOOL, 

BOSTON,  May  18,  1914. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Master,  South  Boston  High  School, 

South  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

You  wished  me  to  send  you  a  word  of  commendation.  Strange  to 
say,  I  scarcely  know  how  to  respond,  though  I  sincerely  wish  to  do  so. 
It  is  so  difficult  to  praise  personally.  For  me  to  say  that  you  have 
the  attributes  of  a  gentleman,  the  instincts  and  training  of  the  scholar, 
much  executive  ability  and  an  excellent  judgment,  would  be  simply 
to  state  what  is  evident  to  everyone  who  knows  you,  even  slightly, 
and  yet  if  a  recommendation  is  to  be  written,  all  of  this,  and  much 
more,  in  truthfulness,  must  be  recorded — and  not  alone  this  but  some 
allusion  also  should  be  made  to  your  sincerity,  your  honesty  and  your 
earnest  desire  to  do,  at  all  times,  your  duty. 

Now  will  you  please  consider  all  of  this  said  (I  fear  too  briefly  said) 
in  the  hopes  that  it  may  prove  of  some  little  service  to  you,  at  some 
time  or  other,  in  the  direction  in  which  you  may  wish  to  use  it. 
Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     HARRY  B.  HALL. 

Private  Office 

Established  1847 
R.  H.  STEARNS  &  COMPANY 
Boston 

May  13th,  1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

218  Tremont  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Dr.  Dyer: 

I  hear  that  there  are  some  vacancies  to  be  filled  in  Head  Master- 
ships. I  trust  it  will  not  be  considered  an  intrusion  if  I  speak  a  good 
word  for  my  friend,  Mr.  James  Mahoney.  Others  can  speak  of  him 
as  to  his  executive  ability  as  a  teacher;  I  know  him  as  a  scholar  and 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  161 

a  gentleman.     I  shall  be  glad  if  a  word  from  me  will  be  of  help  to  him 
and  to  you.     We  are  both  graduates  of  Amherst  College  and  it  is 
through  that  connection  that  I  have  come  to  know  him  and  to  learn 
of  his  fine  scholarship  and  conscientious  faithful  work. 
Sincerely, 

(Signed)     F.  W.  STEARNS. 

New  York 

11  West  19th  Street 

BROWN  DURRELL  Co. 

Importers  and  Manufacturers 

Hosiery,  Underwear,  Handkerchiefs  &  Furnishings 

Thomas  B.  Fitzpatrick,  President  and  Treasurer. 

BOSTON,  May  8,  1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

Superintendent  of  Schools, 

Mason  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Doctor  Dyer: 

I  understand  there  are  likely  to  be  vacancies  in  one  or  two  of  the 
Boston  High  Schools,  so  far  as  the  position  of  principal  is  concerned, 
and  that  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  now  head  of  the  English  Department, 
South  Boston  High  School,  is  an  applicant  for  one  of  these  places. 

I  have  known  Mr.  Mahoney  for  a  number  of  years  and  believe  him 
to  be  a  very  capable  and  conscientious  teacher.  I  have  always 
heard  him  well  spoken  of,  and  trust  his  record  is  such  that  you  can 
with  all  consistency  give  his  application  favorable  consideration. 

Trusting  I  am  not  intruding  by  writing  this  word  of  commenda- 
tion, and  with  kind  regards,  I  remain, 

Yours  respectfully, 

(Signed)     T.  B.  FITZPATRICK. 

May  5,  1914. 
FRANKLIN  B.  DYER,  ESQ., 
Superintendent  of  Schools, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  desire  to  write  to  you  in  the  wish  to  aid  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  now 
at  the  head  of  the  English  Department  of  the  South  Boston  High 
School,  to  attain  the  position  of  head-master  of  that  school. 

As  a  former  pupil  of  his  in  the  English  High  School,  class  of  1895,  I 
wish  to  testify  to  the  following  facts  regarding  Mr.  Mahoney: 

(1)  That  his  teaching  was  on  a  high  moral  plane;  he  never  allowed 
any  vulgarity  or  "smuttiness"  to  creep  into  his  lessons  in  "Ancient 
History." 

(2)  That  in  the  English  or  composition  connected  with  his  history 


162  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

lessons,  his  advice  has  been  remembered,  especially  his  insistence  on 
examination  papers  being  written  in  short,  terse  sentences. 

(3)  That  he  was  careful  of  the  physical  well-being  of  his  classes, 
insisting  on  the  rooms  being  thoroughly  aired  before  each  one  of  his 
hours. 

(4)  That  discipline  during  each  of  his  hours  was  rigidly  maintained 
and,  while  he  was  fair  and  impartial,  I  never  saw  any  liberties  taken 
with  him. 

While  I  have  never  been  in  a  position  to  know  of  his  executive 
ability,  I  believe  that  a  man  possessing  the  foregoing  qualifications 
must  also  combine  with  them  that  executive  ability  which  would  make 
him  a  successful  head-master. 

Yours  truly  very, 

(Signed)     FRANCIS  E.  SMITH. 
WINCHESTER,  MASS. 
1  Wolcott  Terrace. 

Boor  AND  SHOE  RECORDER 
PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

May  25,  1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

Superintendent  of  Schools, 
City  of  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Dr.  Dyer: 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  in  Cin- 
cinnati prior  to  your  coming  to  Boston,  I  feel  a  more  active  interest 
in  the  success  of  Boston's  schools.  Therefore  I  want  to  bring  you  a 
few  facts  as  to  the  excellent  qualifications  of  James  Mahoney  of  the 
South  Boston  High  School  for  the  place  soon  to  be  open,  in  the  head- 
mastership  of  that  school. 

My  inspiration  in  life  was  obtained  in  his  classroom  in  the  English 
High  School  some  fifteen  years  ago  and  I  have  enjoyed  a  close  and 
intimate  friendship  with  Mr.  Mahoney  ever  since.  But  this  is  not 
what  I  want  to  impress,  for  there  is  a  side  of  his  work  that  possibly 
could  not  come  to  you  better  than  from  me.  It  is  that  of  industrial 
potentiality — the  guidance  of  young  men  into  channels  of  useful 
employment — a  work  that  I  consider  most  valuable  as  supplementary 
to  pedagogical  training.  I  can  cite  you  the  names  of  many  men 
referred  me  by  him  who  have  made  a  success  of  life  in  the  shoe  and 
leather  industry,  and  I  know  of  other  industries  likewise  favored  with 
clean  cut  men  under  his  indorsement. 

The  broad  scope  of  his  work  was  well  known  to  me  in  my  work  on 
the  Industrial  Education  Committee  of  the  Boston  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce. His  membership  in  the  South  Boston  Improvement  Associa- 
tion and  his  activities  in  the  industrial  development  of  that  section  of 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  163 

the  City  should  accent  his  availability  to  a  post  identified  with  educa- 
tion progress. 

As  a  Scholar  I  could  quote  you  many  examples  but  they  are  already 
in  your  possession.  Enough  for  me  to  state  that  if  you  need  a  big 
man  mentally,  a  strong  man  industrially,  in  his  ability  to  give  the 
young  men  under  his  charge  (and  my  son  will  enjoy  this,  I  hope)  a 
better  chance  in  life,  you  will  consider  well  his  qualifications. 
In  hearty  indorsement,  I  am, 

(Signed)     ARTHUR  D.  ANDERSON, 

Editor. 

F.  T.  SLATTERY  Co. 

154-155-156-158  Tremont  Street 

Boston 

May  15,  1914. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

Superintendent  of  Schools, 

Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

Having  heard  there  may  be  a  vacancy  for  position  as  Head  Master 
of  the  South  Boston  High  School  in  the  near  future,  I  take  the  lib- 
erty of  writing  you  in  the  interest  of  my  former  teacher  and  friend, 
Mr.  James  Mahoney. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  one  of  Mr.  Mahoney's  pupils,  as  did 
three  of  my  brothers,  and  I  believe  him  to  be  one  of  the  finest  and  most 
honorable  men  I  have  ever  met.  His  clean  and  honorable  record  and 
his  devotion  to  teaching  have  equipped  him  for  any  vacancy  and  I 
trust  he  will  receive  your  kind  consideration. 
Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)     ERNEST  MANAHAN. 

Boston  Young  Men's  316  Huntington  Ave. 

Christian  Association  THE  Tel.  Back  Bay  4400 

CO-OPERATIVE  ENGINEERING  SCHOOL 
BOSTON,  MASS. 

April  27,  1914. 
MR.  FRANKLIN  B.  DYER, 

Superintendent  of  Schools, 

Mason  St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  consequence  of  the  current  rumor  that  there  are  to  be  one  or  two 
retirements  of  high  school  headmasters  this  coming  June,  I  am  taking 
the  liberty  of  calling  your  attention  to  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  head  of 
the  English  Department  of  the  South  Boston  High  School,  and 
formerly  instructor  in  history  at  the  Boston  English  High  School,  as 
a  man  well  equipped  for  one  of  these  vacancies. 


164  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

As  a  student  of  his  at  the  Boston  English  High  School  during  the 
years  1902-1906,  and  particularly  as  a  student  whose  appreciation  of 
his  scholarly  attitude  and  fairmindedness  has  steadily  increased  since 
passing  from  his  influence,  I  recommend  his  consideration  as  a  man 
who  cannot  have  other  than  an  influence  in  the  right  direction  in  the 
education  of  our  high  school  students. 

Although  still  a  young  man  I  have  realized  for  several  years  that 
the  average  American  misses  much  in  literature,  history,  etc.,  largely 
because  his  public  school  training  has  not  given  him  the  appreciation 
of  these  subjects  which  should  start,  at  least,  in  youth;  and  I  believe 
Mr.  Mahoney  would  do  much  toward  building  up  this  early  appre- 
ciation of  these  subjects. 

Trusting  that  you  may  be  interested  in  this  information  concerning 
Mr.  Mahoney,  I  am 

Yours  truly, 
(Signed)     LOREN  N.  DOWNS,  JR. 

Instructor  in  Electrical  Engineering. 
ELECTRICAL  DEPARTMENT. 
288  St.  Botolph  Street. 

Letters  from  the  teachers  whom  James  Mahoney  was  connected 
with,  while  an  instructor  in  the  South  Boston  High  School,  may  be 
interesting : 

To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

During  the  school  year  of  1908-1909  I  served  as  instructor  of  Eng- 
lish in  the  South  Boston  High  School.  The  Head  of  the  Department 
of  English,  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  was  my  immediate  superior  and 
director  in  the  conduct  of  my  classes. 

As  a  man  and  fellow-teacher,  I  always  found  Mr.  Mahoney  to  be 
most  respectful,  considerate,  courteous,  a  perfect  gentleman  in  all 
things  and  filled  with  fidelity  towards  his  co-workers  and  his  superiors. 
His  business  seemed  to  be  always  to  attend  to  his  own  affairs. 

As  a  teacher,  I  had  the  privilege  of  observing  his  work  and  I  noted 
the  efficiency  he  displayed  in  handling  hard  classes  in  difficult  subjects. 

Of  his  ability  as  an  executive — as  head  of  the  department  in  which 
I  served — I  am  well  qualified  to  speak.  At  the  monthly  meetings  of 
the  English  Department  the  organization  of  the  department  was 
made  evident  and  from  the  records  of  these  meetings  one  can  readily 
learn  that  order  and  system  is  the  basis  of  Mr.  Mahoney 's  plan. 

The  English  course  in  South  Boston  High,  which  was  evolved  by 
Mr.  Mahoney,  is  most  admirable.  An  especial  feature  which  I  recall 
being  the  requirement  of  a  daily  theme  for  all  pupils. 

STEPHEN  J.  MURDOCK. 
DORCHESTER  HIGH  SCHOOL. 
16  June,  1911. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  165 

MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

During  the  two  years  that  I  have  been  a  teacher  in  the  South  Boston 
High  School  there  has  been  nothing  to  be  regretted  in  our  relation- 
ship as  teachers,  and  I  consider  it  very  pleasant  to  have  spent  these 
two  years  together.  My  first  impressions  of  S.  B.  H.  were  made 
while  I  was  an  assistant  in  the  same  home  room  with  you,  and  they 
have  been  good  impressions. 

Yours  truly, 
June  16,  1911.  (Signed)     HATTIE  L.  GATES. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

In  all  my  dealings  with  the  teachers  of  our  school,  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  maintain  cordial  and  friendly  relations.  I  have  not  found  you 
an  exception.  On  your  part  you  have  been  willing  to  meet  me  hah* 
way,  and  to  offer  friendly  assistance. 

I  am  glad  to  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  my  appreciation  of 
the  harmony  that  has  existed  between  us. 
Yours  truly, 

(Signed)     A.  F.  CAMPBELL. 
SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL. 
June  15,  1911. 

HIGH  SCHOOL,  SOUTH  BOSTON, 

June  16,  1911. 
To  WHOM  IT  MAY  CONCERN: 

In  all  my  dealings  with  Mr.  James  Mahoney  I  have  always  found 
him  gentlemanly  and  courteous. 

BERTHA  VOGEL. 

PELHAM,  N.  H.,  July  13,  1911. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

In  response  to  your  request,  I  am  very  glad  to  write  what  I  can. 
My  service  in  the  South  Boston  High  School  covering  only  the  last 
year  and  my  position  there  being  only  a  temporary  one,  I  am  a  little 
hesitant  about  the  propriety  of  any  statement  from  me.  However, 
as  everything  I  saw  in  the  school  was  the  happiest  possible,  it  is  a 
pleasure  to  have  an  opportunity  to  testify  as  to  my  impressions. 

From  the  very  first  day  I  spent  at  South  Boston  I  was  impressed 
with  the  high  character,  the  effective  work,  and  the  hearty  co-opera- 
tive spirit  of  all  the  teachers.  I  never  saw  anything  to  make  me 
think  any  teacher  should  be  excepted  in  the  foregoing  statement. 

You  were  very  kind  to  me,  and  I  always  valued  your  assistance  in 
all  those  matters  that  came  up  between  us.     I  have  heard  only  words 
of  respect  for  your  work  at  South  Boston. 
Yours  very  truly, 

(Signed)     MARY  A.  COTTER. 


166  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

MR.  MAHONEY, 

Dear  Sir: 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  voice  here  the  expression  of  my  sincere 
feeling  of  respect  for  you.  In  many  friendly  chats  I  have  always 
found  you  the  scholar,  the  courteous  gentleman  and  the  kindly  col- 
league. In  the  meetings  of  the  faculty,  I  have  frequently  admired 
your  views  on  questions  under  discussion  as  I  have  felt  that  they  were 
backed  by  strong  and  sincere  convictions. 

Kindly  accept  this  as  the  expression  of  my  true  regard  for  you  and 
of  my  best  wishes  for  your  welfare. 

Yours  truly, 

HENRIETTE  GOLDSTEIN. 
SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
June  the  fifteenth,  1911. 

Extracts  from  a  letter  Mrs.  Goldstein  wrote  to  Miss  Mahoney  after 
Mr.  Mahoney's  death: 

"Our  classrooms  in  South  Boston  High  were  on  the  same  floor  and 
nearly  opposite.  Many  a  pleasant  chat  in  either  French  or  German 
(both  at  first  my  native  tongues)  revealed  to  me  his  lofty  ideals.  Like 
myself,  he  believed  our  pupils  must  be  trained  not  only  industrially, 
or  for  the  practical  arts,  but  that  insistence  must  be  laid  on  the  gentle 
arts  that  make  for  courtesy,  kindness  and  charity." 

"Though  differing  in  faiths,  we  met  on  ethical  grounds." 

"A  further  proof  of  his  kindness  was  afforded  me  when  I  taught  in 
his  department.  His  sympathy  with  the  difficulties  I  encountered 
and  which  I  freely  discussed  with  him,  his  broad  tolerance  in  accept- 
ing my  views  of  how  the  subject  was  to  be  handled,  permitting  me  to 
carry  out  my  own  ideas,  are  facts  which,  even  more  than  the  many 
pleasant  talks  we  had,  make  me  cherish  his  memory  in  gratitude  and 
respect." 

Reasons  submitted  by  James  Mahoney  why  he  should  have  been 
appointed  to  one  of  the  Head-masterships  which  were  vacant  in  June, 
I.  Education: 

(1)  Public  Schools,  North  Brookfield. 

(2)  Amherst  College  (Magna  cum  laude  degree;  Prizes;  Phi 
Beta  Kappa,  etc.). 

(3)  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Post-Graduate  Course. 

(4)  Post-Graduate  Courses: 

(a)  Burlington  Summer  School  of  Languages  (Diploma) . 

(b)  Boston  University  Law  School  (Member  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  also  of  United  States  Bar). 

(c)  University  of  Berlin,   Germany    (Special  courses, 
including  science  of  education). 


JAMES  MAHONEY   MEMORIAL  167 

II.  Experience  as  Teacher: 

A.  (1)  Worcester  High  School,  3  years. 

(2)  English  High  School,  Boston,  19  years. 

(3)  South  Boston  High  School,  7  years. 

(4)  Catholic  Literary  Union,  4  years. 

B.  (1)  Received  at  beginning  of  this  experience  in  Boston  a 
Grade  A  certificate  entitling  him  to  serve  in  any  position  in 
the  School  Department. 

(2)  Entered  the  Department  as  Substitute  in  the  English 
High  School;  and  then,  in  due  time  and  in  regular  suc- 
cession, and  with  corresponding  increase  of  salary,  passed 
through  the  following  grades  of  rank: — Junior  Master  on 
Probation,  Junior  Master,  Master,  Master  on  Permanent 
Tenure;  and  then  Master,  Head  of  the  English  Department, 
South  Boston  High  School. 

(3)  In  the  Business  School  of  the  Catholic  Literary  Union 
of  Charlestown,  has  served  four  years  as  Principal. 

III.   Experience  as  an  Executive: 

(NOTE:  30  years  of  success  as  a  disciplinarian,  particularly 
in  handling  large  classes  of  unruly  boys,  shows  executive 
ability  in  the  school  meaning  of  that  term.) 

(1)  Organized  and  has  kept  in  existence  for  20  years,  the  Pub- 
lic School  Art  League,  which  has  placed  about  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  pictures  and  casts  in  various  public 
schools. 

(2)  Service  in  connection  with  various  Associations,  e.  g.,  (a) 
Treasurer  of  Salon  Frangais  for  many  years;  (b)  on  Board  of 
Directors   of   English   High   School   Association;     (c)    Com- 
mittee on  Education  of  the  Trade  Association  of  South  Boston. 

(3)  Seven  years,  as  Head  of  the  English  Department,  South 
Boston  High  School:    Has  organized  and  directed  the  work 
so  well  that  he  received  a  letter  of  praise  from  Assistant- 
Superintendent  Thompson  (in  charge)  who  described  his  work 
as  "Organized  Experience." 

(4)  As  Principal  of  Catholic  Literary  Union  Business  School 
for  four  years  (member  of  School  Board  for  five  years),  he 
drew  up  the  Course  of  Study;  selected  and  hired  the  teachers; 
brought  up  the  registration  of  the  school  from  approximately 
70  to  nearly  500 — this  by  securing  the  active  co-operation  of 
prominent  men,  clubs,  societies,  etc.,  of  the  District;  made 
out  the  schedule  of  classes,  etc.,  and  kept  the  entire  school 
working  harmoniously  and  efficiently.     The  teachers  testify 
that  the  teaching  there  has  been  the   pleasantest  in  their 
experience. 


168  JAMES  MAHONEY   MEMORIAL 

IV.  Personal  knowledge  of  and  sympathy  with  the  people  who  send 
their  children  to  the  High  Schools: 

(1)  He  always  lives  in  the  district  where  his  school  is  situated; 
this  fact  in  itself  inspires  confidence  and  esteem. 

(2)  He  has  had  in  his  classes  about  6,000  students,  many  of 
whom  are  now  successful  men  of  affairs  and  are  sending  their 
children  to  the  schools. 

(3)  Takes  an  active  part  in  local  affairs,  e.  g.,  is  a  member  of 
the  South  Boston  Trade  Association  and  of  the  South  Boston 
Citizens'  Association. 

V.  Broad  Knowledge  of  the  Science  and  Art  of  Education : 

He  has  made  it  a  lifelong  study  (1)  in  his  owrn  classes;  (2)  as 
an  active  member  of  the  National  Educational  Association; 
(3)  by  special  courses  in  the  University  of  Berlin;  (4)  study 
of  the  Prussian  system  of  Education  under  the  direction  of  the 
Prussian  Minister  of  Education. 

VI.  Strength  of  Personality  and  Character: 

This  is  a  matter  of  more  consequence  than  all  the  rest,  for  the 
training  of  young  people  is,  ninety  per  cent,  moral,  and 
depends  on  the  moral  strength  of  the  teacher  rather  than  on 
the  words  he  uses.  Mr.  Mahoney's  sincerity  of  purpose  and 
courage  and  strength  of  character  is  evidenced  (1)  by  certifi- 
cates of  his  own  teachers  and  friends;  (2)  by  testimony  of 
teachers  and  school  authorities  who  had  best  opportunity  to 
observe  his  work;  (3)  by  testimony  of  parents  and  former 
students — many  of  whom  are  now  prominent  in  various  walks 
of  life;  (4)  and  above  all  his  courage  and  strength  of  char- 
acter have  been  tested  and  proved  by  the  nature  of  the  opposi- 
tion which  he  has  encountered. 

NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

*Wilt  thou  play  to  me  as  I  die,  sweet  child, 
So  that  my  soul  may  be  snatched  up 
And  whirled  into  the  bosom  of  God? 

— James  Mahoney. 

Dead — but  the  death  was  fitting: 

His  life,  to  the  latest  breath, 
Was  poured  like  wax  on  the  chart  of  right, 

And  is  sealed  by  the  stamp  of  Death! 

— John  Boyle  O'Reilly. 

So  when  a  good  man  dies, 
For  years  beyond  our  ken 
The  light  he  leaves  behind  him 
Shines  upon  the  paths  of  men. 

— James  Russell  Lowell. 

*They  only  the  victory  win, 

Who  have  fought  the  good  fight,  and  have  vanquished 
The  demon  that  tempts  us  within; 
Who  have  held  to  their  faith  unseduced  by  the  prize  that  the 

world  holds  on  high; 
Who  have  dared  for  a  high  cause  to  suffer,  resist,  fight,  if  need 

be,  to  die. 

Speak,  History!  who  are  Life's  victors? 
Unroll  thy  long  annals,  and  say, 
Are  they  whom  the  world  called  the  victors — 
Who  won  the  success  of  the  day? 
The  martyrs  or  Nero?    The  Spartans  who  fell  at  Thermopylae's 

tryst. 
Or  the  Persians  or  Xerxes?    His  judges  or  Socrates?    Plato 

or  Christ? 

—William  Wetmore  Story. 

RETROSPECT 

Thus  passed,  in  James  Mahoney,  a  rare  character.  The  story  has 
been  told  of  victories  over  difficulties,  in  his  public  and  professional 
career,  when  he  was  in  sight  of  all  men,  by  those  who  knew  of  it. 
There  is,  however,  as  is  true  of  all  men,  the  intimacies  of  the  family, 
the  charm  of  social  hours,  precious  to  all  who  shared  it,  but  too  sacred 
to  be  rudely  unveiled. 

It  would  be  a  pity,  however,  to  leave  unsaid  a  lesson  to  be  drawn 
from  incidental  sidelights,  which,  like  fossils  in  the  memory,  can 
indicate  to  the  sympathetic  eye  the  color  and  form  of  what  is  holy 
remembrance  to  those  who  were  with  him  at  his  ease  at  home. 

*  The  above  quotations  were  found  in  James'  pocketbook  after  his  death. 


170  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

There  is,  for  example,  at  the  very  end,  his  pastor,  Rev.  Robert  J. 
Johnson  of  South  Boston,  who  came  at  the  very  first  breath  of  the 
dread  news  from  the  West  to  console  the  stricken  sisters.  From  that 
on,  the  church  portion  of  the  funeral  arrangements  was  entirely  taken 
over  by  the  pastor.  It  was  no  light  task  for  a  busy  clergyman,  for 
this  was  a  semi-public  funeral,  with  a  great  concourse  of  mourners 
from  many  walks  in  life. 

He  was  "an  ideal  parishioner"  observed  the  pastor,  which  would 
explain,  perhaps,  why  this  pastor  would  not  only  relieve  the  family 
of  all  concern  in  the  church  arrangements,  but  would  go  to  the  grave, 
sixty-eight  miles  away,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life  (he  was  in  feeble 
health  and  died  three  months  later)  to  pay  the  last  full  tribute  to 
the  departed. 

Rev.  Owen  McGee's  grief  for  his  friend  had  to  find  an  outlet  at 
once  by  getting  in  touch  with  the  sisters  (by  telephone,  as  he  lives  in 
Springfield),  and  his  most  consoling  words  are  still  ringing  in  their 
ears. 

Again  there  was  President  Dakin  of  his  class  at  Amherst,  a  lawyer 
who  rushed  away  while  on  vacation,  without  a  thought  of  delay,  and 
stayed  by  the  family  until  they  could  resume  in  some  measure  their 
normal  routine.  His  care,  thoughtfulness  and  tactful  sympathy 
endured  in  the  ensuing  years,  a  living  help  in  sorrow. 

A  friend  of  long  standing  was  Basil  Gavin  who  gladly  devoted  a 
large  measure  of  his  time  in  the  final  days  to  aid  the  Mahoney  sisters, 
although  at  the  time  struggling  with  family  sorrows  of  his  own. 
This  is  a  test,  indeed,  of  friendship. 

There  was  in  the  midst  of  the  last  rites,  a  hitch  about  train  arrange- 
ments to  North  Brookfield.  At  once  James  J.  Phelan,  the  banker, 
cleared  the  way.  He  ensured  the  stopping  of  an  express  train  at  East 
Brookfield,  the  rail  connecting  point,  and  a  special  train  to  North 
Brookfield  for  the  funeral  party.  It  was  a  stroke  of  friendship  at  a 
time  when  such  things  count. 

Many  years  back  when  his  sister  Mary  was  ill  to  the  death  for  more 
than  a  year  in  North  Brookfield  and  James  was  busy  in  Boston,  he 
was  never  too  busy  to  miss  the  run  to  the  old  home  to  stay  over 
Saturday  and  cheer  his  sister.  Every  week  in  the  long  waiting  he 
sent  her  flowers  and  choicest  fruits  from  Boston.  Who  shall  say  that 
such  unremitting  devotion  did  not  lighten  another's  burden? 

At  the  beginning  of  his  sister's  sickness  he  began  the  study  of 
medicine.  His  close  study  of  medical  books  combined  with  his 
closer  study  of  his  patient  enabled  him  to  do  much  to  relieve  her 
sufferings. 

A  curious  and  somewhat  important  incident  grew  out  of  his  remark- 
able fondness  for  his  mother.  This  fondness  for  a  mother  is,  of 
course,  nothing  unusual  in  a  son,  but  it  led  Mahoney  to  install  a 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  171 

telephone  connection  between  his  Boston  home  and  that  of  his 
mother  in  North  Brookfield.  This  was  the  first  "farmer  line"  of  the 
telephone,  which  has  since  grown  to  enormous  dimensions. 

Out  of  this  Mahoney  line  into  the  country  came  a  great  number  of 
subscribers  on  farms  there,  and  a  telephone  official  said,  "It  was  a 
revelation  to  him  to  find  that  farmers  cared  anything  about  a  tele- 
phone, and  that  it  revealed  a  new  and  wholly  unexpected  field  of 
enterprise. 

"James  often  said  to  me,"  says  his  sister  Nellie,  "when  I  would  tell 
him  about  some  difficulties  that  beset  me,  'Be  true  to  mother 
and  father  and  do  what  they  would  want  you  to  do  and  things  will 
come  out  all  right.' 

"James  and  his  mother  were  boon  companions.  I  think  he  never 
really  got  over  the  shock  of  her  death.  He  parted  with  her  in  the 
old  home  in  the  country  about  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in 
apparently  good  health. 

"He  called  her  upon  the  phone  in  Boston  about  6  o'clock,  which 
was  his  daily  custom,  and  I  had  to  tell  him  that  she  was  passing  away. 
He  secured  an  auto  as  quickly  as  possible  and  took  great  care  to 
enquire  about  the  auto  and  was  positively  assured  that  the  machine 
was  in  excellent  condition  in  every  way,  and  capable  of  going  twice 
the  distance  without  further  attention,  and  started  for  home.  The 
machine  got  to  Worcester.  New  batteries  had  to  be  secured  and 
the  chauffeur  was  then  positive  that  the  machine  was  in  perfect 
condition. 

"They  started  on  and  the  machine  worked  beautifully  until  they 
were  going  up  Leicester  hill  when  it  began  to  slack  up  and,  as  they 
neared  the  center  of  Spencer,  it  suddenly  stopped.  The  chauffeur 
discovered  that  the  gasolene  was  all  out.  It  was  now  about  mid- 
night. He  tried  to  secure  a  team  but  failed.  Fortunately  a  late 
street  car  came  along,  and  he  covered  the  rest  of  the  distance  in 
that.  'I  couldn't  telephone,'  he  said,  'as  I  couldn't  take  a  minute 
for  that,  I  wanted  to  reach  mother.' " 

Mahoney  delighted  in  the  old  days,  in  talking  over  farming  methods 
with  his  father  and  many  summers  he  did  all  the  machine  work  in 
haying.  His  own  pursuits  took  him  away  from  the  farm  in  planting 
and  harvesting  time. 

But  the  business  of  farming  had  a  fascination  for  him,  that  made 
his  stays  at  the  North  Brookfield  home,  when  his  father  lived,  rare 
occasions  for  both  of  them,  and  he  endeavored  to  visit  home  on  an 
average  of  once  a  month.  After  his  father's  death  he  went  home  every 
week,  regardless  of  the  weather,  until  they  closed  the  old  home  and 
his  mother  went  to  live  with  him. 

Another  phase,  hardly  expected  in  one  so  exclusively  academic  in 
his  own  work,  was  his  skill  as  a  machinist,  which  made  him  a  decidedly 


172  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

useful  man  on  the  farm  during  the  summer  haying.  He  was  the  first 
one  to  buy  a  corn  harvester  in  that  section  of  the  country. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  before  he  was  injured  he  was  not 
merely  an  active  child  but,  for  one  so  young,  a  remarkable  athlete, 
jumping,  vaulting  and  running  in  a  way  far  beyond  his  years. 

In  recreation  his  tastes  ran  to  croquet  playing,  driving,  swimming, 
boating  and  fishing,  and  he  had  some  experience  on  the  deep  sea. 
He  was  good  at  all  of  these. 

There  is  something  pathetic  in  a  note  written  on  the  back  of  his 
instruction  ticket  in  the  Brookline  swimming  pool :  "  The  last  lesson, 
December  20,  1897,  I  swam  40  feet  on  my  back,  tied  hand  and  foot." 

While  studying  in  Berlin,  he  joined  a  tennis  club.  He  could  not 
play  tennis  but  he  had  a  passion  for  exercise,  even  to  merely  seeing  it. 

Of  the  more  sedentary  amusements,  chess  and  whist  were  favorites. 
He  was  a  skilled  player  at  both  games  and  took  a  high  intellectual 
pleasure  in  them. 

He  was  an  omnivorous  reader.  He  always  had  a  book  by  him  and 
it  never  surprised  the  family  to  see  him  carry  one  to  the  dining  table. 

Concerts  were  hardly  in  the  category  of  amusements  with  him,  as 
he  took  them  very  seriously,  but  he  was  indefatigable  in  attending 
them.  He  had  given  consfderable  time  to  the  study  of  music,  both 
vocal  and  instrumental. 

Art  museums  were  nearer  an  amusement,  but  he  devoted  much 
study  and  reflection  to  what  he  saw.  Natural  history  was  almost  a 
passion  with  Mahoney  and  lectures  on  such  subjects  were  a  sure 
attraction  for  him,  but  he  was  too  busy  for  much  field  work. 

"A  day  or  two  before  James  left  he  made  this  remark  to  us, '  I  have 
never  done  anything  that  I  conscientiously  felt  was  not  right.  And 
I  owe  my  start  in  life  to  the  home  influences  which  were  the  very  best 
for  honesty  and  study.'  He  felt  that  success  should  be  won  by  hard 
work  and  honorable  conduct  and  ability  to  do  the  work." 

Mahoney  was  deeply  interested  in  what  is  called  the  "teacher- 
mother"  movement,  a  somewhat  abstruse  educational  question,  but 
illustrating  Mahoney's  intense  zeal  in  furthering  improvements  in 
teaching  methods.  Without  pretending  to  even  attempt  a  complete 
definition,  "teacher-mothers"  do  for  their  own  children,  on  a  general 
scale,  what  a  few  noted  mothers  have  done  remarkably  well;  using 
their  unequalled  opportunities  with  their  children,  in  the  most 
impressionable  years;  also  of  course,  availing  themselves  of  their 
greatest  intimacy  and  influence  to  educate  their  children  themselves. 

Three  or  four  such  women  have  attained  astonishing  results.  A 
Pittsburgh  girl  was  a  veritable  marvel  at  such  ages  as  8,  10,  and 
12  years.  Out  of  this  was  founded  a  league,  now  of  world-wide 
influence,  that  is  systematizing  this  home  teaching  and  attaining 
remarkable  results. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  173 

A  passionate  love  for  children  was  probably  also  a  determining 
cause  of  Mahoney's  interest  in  this  movement.  The  founder  of  the 
Teacher-Mother  League,  Miss  Ella  Frances  Lynch,  of  Bryn  Mawr, 
Pa.,  throws  an  illuminating  sidelight  on  this  phase  of  Mahoney's 
character.  Speaking  of  his  share,  necessarily  small  but  gladly  given, 
in  developing  this  home  teaching,  she  observes:  "I  find  it  hard  to  put 
into  words  the  glimpses  I  had  of  rare,  fine  qualities  in  your  brother. 
He  was  so  interested  in  human  beings.  The  crowded  city  streets,  the 
busy  corners  seemed  to  him  constant  reminders  of  the  work  from 
which  he  never  permitted  himself  to  rest, — the  great  work  of  making 
this  world  a  better  place  for  the  poor,  the  unfortunate  and  the  little 
children." 

Said  Alfred  S.  Roe,  principal  of  the  school,  Mahoney  taught  in 
Worcester: 

"When  the  school  had  in  hand  the  memorizing  of  the  'Watch  on 
the  Rhine,'  in  its  native  German,  Mr.  Mahoney  produced,  one  day, 
to  the  evident  admiration  of  the  entire  school  a  fine  rendering  of  the 
German  classic  in  superb  English. 

"As  far  as  the  school  was  concerned,  Mr.  Mahoney  could  have 
remained  indefinitely,  but  ambition  for  higher  attainments  possessed 
him  and  he  left  us  for  work  in  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore. 
It  has  been  a  great  pleasure  to  follow  him  in  his  Boston  work  and  to 
know  of  his  success. 

"In  calling  upon  him,  once  in  his  apartments,  I  found  he  had  ever 
kept  up  a  thorough  training,  physically,  and  the  arm  that  he  submitted 
to  my  inspection  was  worthy  an  athlete.  The  last  time  that  I  remem- 
ber seeing  him  was  in  the  assembly  hall  of  St.  Ann's  Parochial  School, 
where,  at  the  invitation  of  Rev.  Doctor  McCoy,  the  Rector,  he  gave 
a  most  illuminating  address  concerning  the  influence  of  the  Catholic 
church.  Some  of  it  unconscious,  on  the  poetry  of  the  great  literary 
lights  of  the  British  people. 

"Little  did  I  think  that  it  was  to  be  my  last  meeting  with  a  man 
who,  in  the  order  of  nature,  should  have  survived  me  many  years. 
I  am  glad,  however,  that  I  am  permitted  to  express  in  this  manner 
my  regard  and  appreciation  of  an  exceedingly  capable  and  cultured 
teacher." 

One  friend  speaking  of  Mahoney  said,  "His  presence  was  a  benedic- 
tion." Another,  "He  was  a  king  among  men." 

His  classmates  summed  up  another  view,  in  their  tribute  to  the 
departed:  "In  our  class  relationship,"  quoting  from  a  joint  tribute 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  "which  has  enriched  our  lives  he  grew  more 
and  more  tolerant  and  sympathetic  with  those  who  perhaps  saw  as 
through  the  clouds  about  its  base,  the  heights  upon  which  he  dwelt. 
The  force  of  his  character  was  cumulative  and  we  cannot  but  regret 
that  it  could  not  have  rounded  out  into  the  fullness  of  its  promise." 


174  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

An  abiding  love  of  animals,  had  its  roots,  perhaps,  in  the  trait  that 
made  him  so  sure  in  dealing  with  children. 

The  characteristic  was  innate.  It  was  almost  full  flowered  in  his 
boyhood,  when  he  could  people  an  old  cellar  near  his  home  with 
beautiful  fairy  beings,  so  dear  to  childhood,  and  keep  his  sister  en- 
tranced for  hours  with  his  stories  of  eyrie  doings  there.  The  icicles 
are  recalled  as  becoming  fairly  alive  to  the  young  and  wonder-working 
imagination  of  his  younger  playmates. 

The  last  tributes  at  his  home  brought  many  touching  evidences  of 
reverence,  for  one  who  was  essentially  a  very  private  type  of  man. 
The  flowers  alone  were  eloquent  in  their  really  amazing  quantity. 
His  last  rest  in  his  own  home  was  amid  veritable  banks  of  most  beauti- 
ful blossoms.  They  poured  into  the  house  to  the  very  last  minute. 

The  key  to  all  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  was  a  real  interest  and 
sympathy  with  others;  a  genuine  eagerness  to  do  for  them,  even  in 
slight  matters;  an  unfailing  willingness  to  make  the  path  of  others 
smoother,  their  lives  brighter;  to  multiply  their  fortunate  moments; 
to  soften  the  blows  that  come  to  all,  as  far  as  possible.  His  very  life 
breath  was  the  glory  of  service. 

Requiescat  in  Pace. 

JAMES  W.  McCoY. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Weep,  ye  who  sorrow  for  the  dead, 

Thus  breaking  hearts  their  pain  relieve, 
And  reverenced  are  the  tears  ye  shed, 

And  honored  ye  who  grieve. 
The  praise  of  those  who  sleep  in  earth, 
The  pleasant  memory  of  their  worth, 
The  hope  to  meet  when  life  is  past, 
Shall  heal  the  tortured  mind  at  last. 

— Bryant. 


But  friendship  in  its  greatest  height 
A  constant  rational  delight 
On  virtue's  basis  fixed  to  last 
When  love's  allurements  long  are  past. 

—Swift. 


Not  for  thyself  we  weep — 

Too  early  fallen  asleep, 

Before  the  dust  and  footsore  of  gray  time 

Had  wearied  thee,  and  dimmed  day's  golden  prime. 

For  thou  hasft  won  the  race 

Where  longer  lives  do  vainly  sue  for  place; 

And  evermore  thy  memories  belong 

To  native  land  and  song. 

But  for  ourselves,  who  ne'er  again  may  know 

The  hand's  strong  clasp,  the  smile  so  sudden  bright, 

The  cheery  voice,  the  sunny  eye's  delight — 

Alas!  what  use  the  haunting  truth  to  flee — 

'Tisfor  thyself  we  grieve,  and  only  thee! 

—Mary  Elizabeth  Blake. 


There  is  no  death!     What  seems  so  is  transition; 

This  life  of  mortal  breath 
Is  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  elysian, 

Whose  portal  we  call  death. 

— Longfellow. 


176  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Hmc  could  he  rest?  even  when  he  trod 
The  threshold  of  the  world  unknown; 

Already,  from  the  seat  of  God, 

A  ray  upon  his  garments  shone; — 


Shone  and  awoke  the  strong  desire 

For  love  and  knowledge  reached  not  here, 

Till,  freed  by  death,  his  soul  of  fire 
Sprang  to  a  fairer,  ampler  sphere. 

— Bryant. 


Yet  all  may  win  the  triumphs  thou  hast  won. 
Still  flows  the  fount  whose  waters  strengthened  thee, 

The  victors'  names  are  yet  too  few  to  fill 
Heaven's  mighty  roll;  the  glorious  armory, 

That  ministered  to  thee,  is  open  still. 

— Bryant. 


TRIBUTES  FROM  FRIENDS 

There  was  a  flood  of  warm  tributes  to  the  character  of  James 
Mahoney  sent  to  his  family  at  the  time  of  his  death,  some  of  which 
are  given  herewith. 

CONCORD,  MASS., 
September  9,  1915. 
DEAR  LADIES: 

While  I  should  regard  it  as  a  privilege  to  accept  your  invitation  to 
your  esteemed  brother's  funeral  on  Saturday,  and  you  are  quite  at 
liberty  to  use  my  name  as  one  of  the  pall-bearers,  yet  the  hour  is  so 
early  that  I  fear  I  could  not,  from  this  distance,  and  at  my  advanced 
years,  arrive  in  time  for  the  duty. 

I  had  depended  on  meeting  him  again,  and  talking  with  him  on 
those  interesting  experiences  of  his,  in  this  country  and  abroad,  which 
he  mentioned  in  our  too  brief  conversation  here. 

But  this  is  a  world  of  disappointments,  of  which  I  have  had  my 
share,  and  of  regrets  that  must  be  unavailing.     Believe  me  that  I 
sympathize  with  you  in  this  bereavement,  and  that  I  am  most  truly, 
Yours  faithfully, 

F.  B.  SANBORN. 

THE  MISSES  KATE  AND  NELLIE  MAHONEY, 
South  Boston. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  177 

MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  can  only  write  of  Mr.  Mahoney  with  such  regret  as  I  would 
experience  by  a  loss  in  my  own  family.  His  death  has  left  for  me, 
and  I  feel  sure  for  others  who  have  known  him,  a  void,  which  time  is 
only  enlarging.  The  craving  for  his  company,  his  fellowship,  his 
advice,  grows  stronger  instead  of  diminishing,  because  it  was  some- 
thing that  cannot  be  replaced. 

Mr.  Mahoney's  friendship  was  ideal.  There  were  no  limitations 
to  its  bounds.  His  conception  of  the  duties,  the  consideration  of 
friend  for  friend  were  infinite,  or  rather,  as  he  might  have  put  it, 
the  pleasures  of  giving  to  one's  friends  were  boundless.  For  it  was 
for  him  to  give,  and  he  did,  lavishly  and  unstintingly.  Not  that  his 
duties  allowed  him  to  see  even  his  intimate  friends  very  often,  but 
the  feeling,  the  bond  that  unites  was  there,  and  if  he  could  but  assist 
or  guide,  or  advise  in  any  way,  his  friendship  knew  no  bounds  or 
measure,  his  time,  his  talents,  his  friends  were  yours.  I  am  not 
optimistic  enough  to  feel  that  such  a  friend  can  come  twice  into  a 
man's  life. 

Mr.  Mahoney  was  one  of  the  broadest  men  I  have  ever  met.  I 
thihk  it  was  the  first  time  I  met  him,  a  gentleman  of  a  foreign 
nationality  was  present,  and  in  his  conversation  alluded  to  some 
incident  in  his  country's  history.  The  topic  offered  opportunity  for 
discussion,  Mr.  Mahoney  entered  the  conversation,  and  I  listened 
with  surprise  as  I  heard  him  discuss  with  detailed  knowledge  episodes 
in  the  history  of  this  ordinarily  little- known  state.  It  was  a  significant 
incident,  introducing  me  to  the  wonderful  mass  of  knowledge  that  he 
had  accumulated,  and  that  always  seemed  ready  at  hand,  and  never 
forgotten.  My  conversations  with  him  were  always  of  the  very 
keenest  interest  to  me.  The  detail  that  he  possessed  was  wonderful, 
but  it  never  in  any  way  clouded  or  obscured  his  grasp  of  a  subject 
as  a  whole,  or  the  broadness  or  tolerance  of  his  viewpoint.  I  recall 
so  many  interesting  conversations,  when  it  was  my  privilege  to  hear 
Mr.  Mahoney's  views  and  opinions  on  some  of  the  subjects  in  which 
he  was  interested.  I  remember  his  explanations  of  business-law,  his 
clear-cut  definitions  of  the  schools  of  philosophy,  his  interest  in 
certain  works  of  art.  We  attended  the  opera  together,  and  his  knowl- 
edge of  music  at  first  surprised  me  as  much  as  his  translation  for  me 
of  some  of  the  text  of  II  Trovatore  one  evening,  before  I  knew  that 
he  read  Italian,  as  he  did  German  and  French,  and  Greek  and  Latin. 
It  is  needless  to  recount,  however,  for  his  friends  were  aware  of  the 
wonderful  breadth  of  his  learning,  as  well  as  the  broad  calm  view- 
point he  took  of  it  all. 

But  I  might  say  that  perhaps  I  was  brought  more  in  contact  with 
Mr.  Mahoney  along  business  lines,  than  were  many  of  his  friends. 
We  talked  business,  because  I  relied  on  his  business  advice  and  judg- 


178  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

ment.  I  remember  our  meeting  a  business-man  at  a  trade-dinner, 
and  after  the  dinner  was  over,  he  gave  me  an  estimate  of  the 
man  in  his  own  judgment.  It  was  very  much  at  variance  with  the 
common  estimate,  and  especially  at  this  particular  banquet  where 
the  man  in  question  was  among  friends.  Within  two  years  Mr. 
Mahoney's  estimate  and  prophesy  was  proved  correct,  to  the  extreme 
surprise  of  many  associates  of  this  man. 

I  would  like  to  emphasize  one  point.  Although  possessed  of  such 
a  grasp  of  detail  as  he  had,  Mr.  Mahoney  was  absolutely  removed 
from  what  some  might  call  the  "school -master"  type.  He  knew  the 
subject  he  was  teaching  well,  all  will  admit,  but  I  now  recall  with 
surprise,  that  in  the  years  I  knew  him,  he  never  once  touched  on  the 
subject  of  "English,"  and  there  were  so  many  other  subjects  that 
were  discussed  between  us  that,  except  for  certain  specific  books  on 
which  I  questioned  him  for  an  opinion,  we  never  touched  on  literature. 
Either  intentionally,  thru  a  desire  not  to  "talk  shop"  or  because  of 
the  multitude  of  other  subjects  at  his  command,  Mr.  Mahoney 
never  mentioned  the  subject  which,  during  the  years  when  I  knew 
him,  he  was  specializing  in. 

I  shall  always  remember  an  automobile  trip  we  took  together  to  the 
Brookfield  country.  I  shall  never  forget  his  enthusiasm  as  we  neared 
his  own  old  country.  His  extreme  delight  in  pointing  out  to  me  all 
the  sights  and  points  of  interest.  We  drove  beyond  the  towns,  and 
up  Coy's  Hill,  where  he  showed  me  the  panorama  of  the  whole  beauti- 
ful country,  and  with  what  loving  interest,  and  enthusiastic  loyalty, 
he  showed  me  each  familiar  spot.  Then  we  went  down,  and  across 
to  where  he  was  born  in  Hardwick,  and  then  back  to  the  dearest  spot 
for  him,  his  own  home  in  the  hills.  We  had  luncheon  on  the  hillside, 
up  beyond  his  house,  overlooking  a  beautiful  stretch  of  country,  and 
the  love  and  appreciation  of  this  man,  for  his  home,  and  for  nature  in 
her  beauty,  was  to  me  a  mark  of  his  own  greatness. 

He  loved  his  home,  and  his  family,  and  his  friends.  His  respect 
and  admiration  for  his  parents  was  as  beautiful  as  his  care  and  love 
for  his  sisters.  I  have  tried  to  express  his  feelings  towards  his  friends. 
His  students  too  shared  in  the  warmth  and  kindness  of  his  nature.  I 
have  been  at  his  house,  when  he  was  rushed  and  harassed  with  the 
work  of  two  schools,  and  have  seen  him  go  downstairs  and  listen  to 
some  youngster's  tale,  as  if  he  had  no  other  worry  in  the  world,  and 
then  cheer  him,  with  kind  words  of  comfort  and  advice.  I  have  seen 
him  take  his  time  and  go  out  of  his  way,  to  meet  a  boy's  parents,  in 
order  to  make  some  suggestion,  or  give  some  word  of  warning.  Then 
when  the  boy  had  finished  school,  and  was  unsuccessful  in  finding 
work,  I  have  seen  Mr.  Mahoney  again  call  on  his  time,  and  see  that 
the  boy  was  well  started  before  he  left  him.  And  then  I  have  seen 
him,  time  and  again,  stopped  in  the  street  by  some  successful  business 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  179 

or  professional  man,  and  thanked  with  the  most  profound  gratitude 
for  the  part  he  had  had  in  making  their  success.  For  this,  indeed, 
was  his  life's  work.  Disappointments  were  his,  and  bitter  ones  to  a 
man  so  straightforward,  so  fair,  but  if  the  success  he  earned  and 
deserved  had  only  been  allowed  him,  it  would  only  have  meant  an 
enlarging  of  his  influence  for  good.  It  was  the  pupils  who  were  the 
losers.  To  those  who  came  in  contact  with  him,  and  worked  with  him, 
he  gave  all  he  had,  if  his  position  and  authority  had  been  increased 
as  was  so  well  deserved,  this  influence  would  have  only  been  so  much 
broadened.  He  sought  neither  honors  nor  influence  for  himself, 
for  Mr.  Mahoney  was  a  practical  idealist.  He  idealized  his  work. 
For  him,  it  was  a  glorious  calling,  and  he  threw  all  his  enthusiasm,  his 
talents,  his  life  into  his  work,  realizing  practically  his  idealism  for 
those  with  whom  he  worked.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  real  call  of  teaching, 
to  instruct,  yes,  but  to  do  far  more,  to  guide,  to  help,  to  advise,  to 
take  a  real  interest  in  the  young,  to  feel  a  real  moral  responsibility, 
to  even  fill  the  place  of  a  parent,  when  the  parent  is  weak  or  wrong, 
such  is  the  call  of  teaching  idealized,  and  such  a  teacher  was  James 
Mahoney,  a  light  in  that  calling,  the  like  of  whom  it  will  be  hard  to 
find  again. 

To  you,  Miss  Mahoney,  his  sister,  we  who  have  lost  him  as  a  friend 
can  only  offer  our  sincerest  sympathy,  for  your  loss  of  him,  as  a  brother. 
Sincerely  yours, 

BASIL  GAVIN. 

DR.  THOMAS  F.  LEEN 

19  BAT  STATE  ROAD 

BOSTON,  MASS. 

Mr.  James  Mahoney,  of  rugged  honesty  and  fair-play,  held  a 
peculiar  position  in  the  schools  of  Boston,  which  he  so  passionately 
loved.  Probably  the  greatest  scholar  among  its  teachers,  a  depart- 
ment head  in  English,  the  first  student  in  his  class  at  Amherst,  a 
post-graduate  at  Johns  Hopkins  and  the  University  of  Berlin,  a 
lawyer  and  an  authority  on  international  law,  a  fluent  conversational- 
ist of  several  languages,  and  a  practical  believer  in  sabbatical  years 
for  the  welfare  of  his  pupils,  with  such  qualifications  it  may  easily 
be  seen  how  he  was  intellectually  head  and  shoulders  above  his 
colleagues. 

This  ability  should  have  brought  prompt  promotion  but  instead 
brought  envy,  jealousy,  and  prejudice  from  his  colleagues,  and  made 
him  a  marked  man  to  be  destroyed  by  any  means,  fair  or  foul,  by 
those  seeking  similar  promotion.  Many  times  he  had  told  me  about 
the  unfair  methods  used  against  him,  and  while  I  was  a  member  of  the 
School  Board  an  instance  arose  which  substantiated  his  statement, 
and  was  jocosely  passed  over  by  the  other  members  of  the  Board. 


180  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

He  was  a  distinct  loss,  and  his  persecution  was  one  of  the  factors  of 
shortening  his  life,  Boston  thereby  losing  one  of  its  staunch  citizens. 

THOMAS  F.  LEEN, 

Member  of  the  School  Board,  1911-1914. 
October  10,  1916. 

Wednesday. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

Since  your  message  came  Sunday  evening  I  have  been  able  to  think 
of  little  else.  Your  brother's  untimely  passing  is  inexpressibly  sad 
and  I  feel  very  deeply  for  you  and  for  your  sister.  From  the  days  in 
English  High — now  twenty-two  years  ago — when  as  a  boy  of  fifteen 
I  first  came  under  his  influence  I  always  counted  him  my  steadfast 
friend,  and  I  owe  to  him  much  more  than  I  can  possibly  put  in  words. 
His  splendid  courage  was  an  inspiration  and  that  wonderful  fidelity  to 
the  best  that  was  in  him  made  him  a  man  it  is  good  to  have  been 
permitted  to  know.  I  shall  honor  his  memory  as  long  as  I  live. 

It  is  heart-rending,  I  know,  not  to  have  been  able  to  console  his 
last  hours;  he  so  often  and  hi  little  unobtrusive  ways  made  plain  the 
warmth  of  his  affection  for  his  sisters — and  there  will  come  the  blank 
and  the  numbing  reaction  that  will  be  hard  to  bear. 

In  days  to  come  his  fine  spirit  will  grow  for  you;  it  will  be  a  light 
that  cannot  be  taken  away. 

If  I  can  be  of  any  possible  assistance,  Saturday  or  another  day,  I 
beg  you  not  to  hesitate  to  call  on  me. 

With  sincerest  sympathy  to  you  both,  I  remain, 
Yours  very  truly, 

GEORGE  G.  WOLKINS. 
WEST  ROXBURY. 
8th  September. 

69  BAY  STATE  ROAD,  BOSTON, 

September  7,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  am  most  sorry  to  hear  of  the  death  of  your  brother  for  whom  I 
had  a  very  high  regard.  I  extend  to  you  my  deepest  sympathy. 

If  it  will  please  you  I  shall  be  most  glad  to  act  as  an  honorary 
pall-bearer.     When  you  know  the  exact  day  and  hour  of  the  funeral 
service  will  you  kindly  have  some  one  telephone  my  secretary,  Miss 
Taylor,  271  Back  Bay,  or  to  the  Harvard  Club  to  me  personally. 
With  wannest  regards,  I  am, 

Sincerely, 

HERBERT  S.  JOHNSON. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  181 

Extract  from  another  letter: 

"  I  have  always  regarded  Mr.  James  Mahoney  as  a  man  of  excep- 
tionally fine  character.  A  number  of  my  friends  and  I  were  so  much 
impressed  by  his  sterling  honesty  that  we  considered  asking  him  to 
run  for  mayor  of  Boston  within  the  past  ten  years.  We  had  never 
given  up  the  project.  It  is  entirely  possible  that  if  Mr.  Mahoney 
had  lived,  he  might  have  been  the  nominee  for  mayor  within  the  next 
few  years." 

ST.  PATRICK'S  RECTORY. 
MONSON,  MASS. 

September  7,  1915. 
DEAR  FRIENDS: 

The  shocking  news  of  your  brother's  death  was  learned  this  morning 
with  the  deepest  regret. 

James  Mahoney  was  a  great  man  and  those  whose  good  fortune  it 
was  to  be  well  acquainted  with  him,  knew  him  to  be  both  humble 
and  kind.  The  Catholic  circles  in  and  around  Boston  have  good 
reason  to  mourn  his  loss,  for  it  has  been  their  conviction  that  he  had 
been  of  late  years  a  real  power  in  their  midst. 

I  am  sure  you  are  proud  of  your  close  relationship  to  him.     His 
greatness  and  goodness  will  make  your  cross  the  heavier  to  bear,  but 
be  grateful  to  God  for  having  given  you  such  a  brother,  and  let  your 
prayer  be  "Thy  will  be  done." 
May  he  rest  in  peace. 

With  the  deepest  sympathy  for  you  both  in  your  hour  of  sorrow,  I 
beg  to  remain, 

Your  dear  friend, 

JAMES  DONAHUE. 

53  STATE  STREET,  BOSTON, 

September  7,  1915. 
Miss  KATHERINE  A.  MAHONEY, 

South  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

Your  note  of  September  6  came  to  me  as  a  sudden  sad  surprise. 
When  your  brother  was  last  at  the  office  he  told  me  of  his  intended 
trip  to  the  Fair  on  the  Coast,  and  I  pictured  him  as  enjoying  a  trip 
in  the  West. 

It  is  now  a  time  when  I  know  only  too  well  how  little  can  be  said 
to  comfort  you,  but  in  the  words  of  a  hero  of  1915  I  know  he  found 
death  "the  most  beautiful  adventure  of  Life." 
Very  sincerely, 

JOSEPH  J.  HEARD. 


182  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

24  BROOKDALE  STREET,  ROSLINDALE,  BOSTON. 

September  12,  1915. 
DEAR  MADAM: 

Although  a  stranger  to  you  personally,  I  want  to  tender  my  pro- 
found sympathy  in  your  great  affliction. 

My  acquaintance  with  your  brother  began  in  the  old  North  Brook- 
field  days,  as  boys  together,  when  we  learned  chess  and  talked 
philosophy,  even  then.  Our  paths  led  apart  and  we  were  both  middle- 
aged  when  we  met  again,  but  for  the  last  20  years,  we  met  fairly 
frequently  and  they  were  red  letter  days  for  me.  He  had  become,  of 
course,  a  learned  educator,  but  for  me  he  was  the  old  time  "Jim" 
Mahoney. 

It  is  a  saddening  reflection  to  me  to  recall  my  last  meeting  with  him. 
There  came  to  me  then  the  resolve  that,  come  what  would,  the  chance 
of  renewing  with  firmer  and  more  attentive  care  the  lifelong  acquaint- 
ance would  not  go  unimproved. 

I  was  prepared  with  what  appeared  to  me  to  be  some  useful  hints 
on  his  proposed  work,  when,  in  the  midst  of  it  all,  came  the  news  from 
the  West.     It  came  almost  like  a  blow  of  fate. 
Yours  very  truly, 

JAMES  W.  McCoy. 
To  Miss  KATE  A.  MAHONEY, 
72  G  Street,  South  Boston. 

HOMER  ALBERS 

Counselor-At-Law 

Sears  Building,  Boston 

August  10,  1916. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 
North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

On  my  return  from  vacation  I  find  your  letter.  Of  course  you  may 
publish  the  letters  from  Mrs.  Albers  and  from  me,  if  you  care  to. 
Mrs.  Albers  and  I  both  had  a  high  appreciation  of  the  ability,  courtesy 
and  friendship  of  your  brother,  James  Mahoney.  I  felt  very  keenly 
his  loss.  If  there  is  anything  I  can  do  for  you,  or  if  you  desire  to  have 
me  write  anything  further,  I  will  gladly  do  so. 
Sincerely  yours, 

HOMER  ALBERS. 

GEORGETOWN  UNIVERSITY 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

February  20,  1917. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

Pardon  this  belated  acknowledgment  of  your  letter,  but  extra 
retreat  work  must  serve  as  my  apology  for  the  delay. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  183 

Make  whatever  use  you  please  of  my  remarks  about  your  dear 
departed  brother. 

He  was  a  thorough  man,  endowed  with  the  fine  qualities  of  intelligent, 
sterling  manhood;  he  was  a  thorough  teacher,  gifted  beyond  the  ordi- 
nary with  the  power  of  communicating  knowledge  to  others,  while 
he  also  possessed  a  rare  patience  and  a  deep  sympathy  with  the 
youthful  aspirant  after  learning;  and  he  was  a  thorough  Christian, 
holding  firmly  and  practically  by  those  lofty  moral  principles  which 
build  up  the  highest  type  of  upright  manhood. 
Very  sincerely, 

THOMAS  I.  GASSON,  S.  J. 

FORMERLY  PRESIDENT  OF  BOSTON  COLLEGE. 
Boston,  Massachusetts. 


NATIONAL  CONFERENCE  OF  CATHOLIC  CHARITIES 
OFFICE  OF  THE  CONFERENCE  SECRETARY 

CATHOLIC  UNIVERSITY,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

November  3,  1915. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  was  deeply  grieved  yesterday  when  I  learned  of  your  brother's 
death.  I  send  you  the  assurance  of  my  sympathy  and  of  the  hope 
that  James  has  found  his  assured  peace  in  God.  I  know  that  you 
will  bear  this  sorrow  with  obedient  grace,  in  the  conviction  that  our 
peace  is  found  only  in  the  will  of  God. 

I  met  James  for  the  first  time  when  we  were  fellow  students  in 
Berlin.     He  impressed  me  then  as  a  man  of  ideals  and  character. 
When  I  met  him  here  after  many  years,  during  which  we  were  out  of 
touch,  I  found  the  same  evidence  of  force  and  purpose,  the  same 
sympathy  for  others  and  the  astounding  determination  that  enabled 
him  to  overcome  obstacles  that  would  have  discouraged  most  men. 
I  shall  pray  for  his  happy  repose  and  remember  him  with  admiration. 
Very  sincerely, 

W.  J.  KERBY. 

REV.  JAMES  TODD,  D.  D. 

821  East  Broadway, 

Pastor,  Fourth  Presbyterian  Church. 

SOUTH  BOSTON,  MASS. 

September  27,  1915. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY. 

Dear  Madam: 

It  is  with  great  regret  I  have  learned  of  the  death  of  your  dear 
brother,  and  my  friend,  Prof.  Mahoney,  of  our  High  School.  I 


184  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

would  have  added  to  the  company  that  honored  him  finally  by  attend- 
ing his  funeral,  but  absence  from  home,  and  illness  prevented  me. 
I  beg  to  express  for  you  my  strongest  sympathies  in  your  bereave- 
ment, and  may  the  Holy  Spirit  of  the  living  God  comfort  you. 

He  is  not  lost,  but  gone  before  to  await  all  true  believers  in  Jesus, 
and  we  shall  meet  together  in  His  Holy  Name. 
Cordially  yours, 

JAMES  TODD. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR 

Bureau  of  Education 

WASHINGTON 

September  20,  1915. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  St.,  South  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

I  am  greatly  shocked  at  the  news  of  the  death  of  Mr.  James  Mahoney. 
I  saw  him  several  times  in  Oakland  and  had  luncheon  with  him  once 
or  twice  during  the  last  week  in  August.  At  that  time  he  was  looking 
very  well  and  showed  signs  of  being  refreshed  by  his  vacation  and  his 
visit  to  the  West. 

Permit  me  to  express  my  sympathy  with  you  and  other  relatives  of 
Mr.  Mahoney  in  your  loss  and  grief. 

Yours  sincerely, 

P.  P.  CLAXTON, 
Commissioner. 

DR.  CLARENCE  J.  BLAKE. 

226  MARLBOROUGH  STREET,  BOSTON. 

August  28,  1916. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  am  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  express  my  appreciation  of 
the  privilege  I  had  in  knowing  your  brother  and  therefore  of  having 
with  me  the  memory  of  his  earnestness  in  behalf  of  what  he  believed 
to  be  the  right,  his  scorn  of  trickery  or  self  seeking  and  that  courage 
of  conviction  which  would  not  let  him  rest  until  by  tongue  or  pen  he 
had  done  his  part  toward  furthering  that  which  was  best. 
Sincerely  yours, 

CLARENCE  JOHN  BLAKE. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  185 

CARNEGIE  INSTITUTION  OF  WASHINGTON 

Department  of  Historical  Research. 
J.  Franklin  Jameson 
Director 

1140  Woodward  Building 
Washington,  D.  C. 
October  12,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  MADAM: 

You  are  right  in  thinking  that  I  had  not  heard  of  your  brother's 
departure,  and  I  thank  you  for  the  notification.  I  am  sorry  to  hear 
that  he  has  gone.  I  had  known  him  slightly  for  many  years,  and 
last  winter,  while  he  was  in  Washington,  had  better  opportunities  of 
seeing  him.  I  appreciated  his  high  ideals,  his  unselfishness  and  public 
spirit,  his  intelligence,  and  his  constant  courtesy,  and  can  well  under- 
stand how  grievous  the  loss  of  such  a  brother  must  be  to  you. 
With  my  most  cordial  sympathy,  I  am, 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.  F.  JAMESON. 

Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 
72  G  Street,  South  Boston, 
Massachusetts. 


DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

No  one  could  have  known  your  brother  without  appreciating  his 
unusual  qualities  of  mind  and  heart. 

His  interest  in  his  friends  and  acquaintances  was  extraordinary 
and  I  remember  being  so  much  impressed  that  afternoon,  when  I  sat 
with  you  in  a  box  at  the  Castle  Square  Theatre,  looking  out  over  that 
great  crowd  of  school  children,  with  his  knowledge  of  and  interest  in 
them  all. 

I  am  glad  to  have  you  say  that  he  "wishes"  you  to  ask  me  to  write 
this  note,  as  it  shows  that  you  are  not  left  alone,  that  you  still  have 
with  you  the  consciousness  of  his  presence. 

Thanking  you  for  rememberin'g  me,  I  am, 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

ALICE  McCmRE  BURR. 
MILTON. 

August  18,  1916. 

104  KINGSTON  ST.,  BOSTON,  MASS. 

September  8,  1915. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  am  very  sorry  indeed  to  learn  the  sad  news  of  your  good  brother's 
death  in  Colorado.  I  had  very  great  admiration  for  his  splendid 
qualities,  and  his  masterly  ability,  and  feel  sure  that  he  will  be 


186  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

missed,  not  only  by  his  family,  but  by  a  large  number  of  friends,  and 
especially  so  amongst  those  associated  with  the  teaching  profession. 
In  answer  to  your  kind  request,  will  say  I  will  be  present  on 
Saturday  morning  to  act  in  the  capacity  to  which  you  refer.* 
Assuring  you  of  my  sincere  sympathy,  I  remain, 

Respectfully  yours, 

T.  B.  FITZPATRICK. 
*  Mr.  Fitzpatrick  was  a  pallbearer. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  St.,  South  Boston,  Mass. 

YALE  UNIVERSITY 
THE  SCHOOL  OF  MEDICINE 

24  LINCOLN  ST.,  NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  thank  you  for  letting  me  know  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Mahoney. 
Among  all  my  teachers,  in  school  and  college,  he  was  one  of  the  two 
or  three  who  influenced  me  most  deeply.  I  shall  always  remember 
him  with  gratitude  and  affection  and  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  deep 
sympathy  in  your  bereavement. 

Sincerely  yours, 

C.-E.  A.  WINSLOW. 

Mr.  Allen  Ripley  Foote,  President 
National  Tax  Association,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

315  LINWOOD  AVE.,  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. 

October  22,  1915. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  St.,  South  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Madam: 

I  have  yours  of  the  17th  giving  me  the  very  sad  and  unexpected  in- 
formation that  Mr.  James  Mahoney  died  in  Colorado  on  September  4th. 
This  deprives  me  of  a  pleasure  and  satisfaction  I  have  been  antici- 
pating for  some  time  by  expecting  to  meet  him  and  have  many 
conferences  with  him,  on  subjects  of  mutual  interest,  in  Washington 
the  coming  winter. 

He  commanded  my  respect  and  I  believe  he  had  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  all  who  knew  him.  I  can  understand  the  regret  at  his 
departure  of  all  of  his  many  relatives  and  friends,  when  they  realize 
that  he  is  not  to  return  in  the  form  by  which  they  knew  him,  but  that 
does  not  deprive  us  of  the  society  of  his  mind. 

I  thank  you  for  having  remembered,  in  the  hour  of  your  grief,  to 
write  me  regarding  him. 

Sincerely  yours, 

ALLEN  R.  FOOTE. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  187 

WM.  KNOWLES  COOPEB 

1736  G  Street,  N.  W. 

Washington,  D.  C. 

October  26,  1915. 
Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 

72  G  St.,  South  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

Your  letter  to  our  Mr.  Johnson  duly  received.  I  am  genuinely 
grieved  to  know  of  the  death  of  your  brother. 

Your  brother  came  to  Washington  bearing  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  me  from  our  mutual  friend,  Mr.  Orr.  A  friendship  immediately 
sprang  up  which  to  me  was  most  instructive  and  helpful.  We  fre- 
quently met  at  the  Cosmos  Club  and  found  many  common  interests. 

Washington  is  such  a  busy  and  transient  city  that,  while  I  missed 
your  brother,  I  did  not  seek  to  know  the  reason  of  his  absence  from 
the  city. 

It  was  very  thoughtful  of  you  to  write  and  tell  the  sad  news.  Will 
you  please  accept  on  behalf  of  the  Association  and  myself  personally 
our  deepest  sympathy  in  your  bereavement. 

You  have  the  very  great  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  your  brother 
lived  a  useful,  honorable,  and  pure  life. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

WM.  KNOWLES  COOPER. 


THE  HILLSIDE 

Waltham 
Massachusetts 

August  28,  1916. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  value  the  memory  of  your  brother,  and  I  valued  his  friendship* 
because  I  always  found  him  interested  in  the  realities  of  things  as 
compared  to  the  artificialities  and  conventionalities  that  make  up 
the  mental  and  spiritual  equipment  of  so  many  well-meaning  people. 
Because  of  this  inherent  sincerity  of  character  he  was  frank  and  out- 
spoken in  his  hatred  of  evil,  which  is  the  necessary  accompaniment  of 
the  love  of  good.  He  was  merciful  to  the  weak,  but  a  pronounced 
enemy  of  all  weakness,  and  this  gave  him  the  power,  in  his  relations 
with  men  as  well  as  children,  to  "strengthen  the  weak  hands  and 
uphold  the  feeble  knees."  I  think  of  uprightness  and  loyalty  to  his 
own  principles  and  convictions  as  the  keynote  of  his  character.  He 
was  incorruptible. 
With  high  regard, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

ARTHUR  A.  CAREY. 


188  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

OAK  BLUFFS,  MASSACHUSETTS, 

September  9,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  am  greatly  shocked  and  grieved  to  learn  of  the  death  of  your  dear 
brother  and  my  good  friend,  Mr.  James  Mahoney.  I  extend  to  you 
my  deepest  sympathy  in  the  hours  of  your  bereavement.  Your  loss 
is  very  great,  and  those  who  knew  him  well  can  appreciate  this  the 
more.  He  was  a  splendid  character,  a  most  lovable  man  and  a  loyal 
friend.  His  death  is  a  distinct  loss  to  the  community,  especially  to 
the  young  people  of  Boston. 

I  greatly  regret  that  I  cannot  attend  the  funeral  and  act  as  one  of 
the  honorary  pall  bearers.  You  will  understand,  I  am  sure,  that  my 
desire  would  be  to  do  so  if  it  were  possible. 

Sincerely  yours, 

H.  C.  BENTLEY. 
BOSTON  UNIVERSITY 

BOSTON,  September  7,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  am  very  grieved  and  shocked  to  learn  of  your  good  brother's 
death.  It  seems  but  a  few  days  since  we  saw  you  that  Sunday  at 
your  house,  and  though  I  had  not  seen  him  since,  I  had  felt  in  touch 
with  him,  thro'  his  telephone  messages  and  hearing  of  him  thro'  my 
sister,  and  it  was  always  a  pleasure  to  talk  with,  or  hear  from,  him. 

I  had  intended  last  winter  to  try  to  see  him  in  Washington,  but  my 
trips  were  few  and  I  never  did  it,  which  I  regret  now  more  than  ever. 

My  mother  and  sister  were  both  terribly  shocked  to  get  your  message 
this  morning,  and  my  mother  asked  me  particularly  to  express  her 
profound  sympathy  to  you  and  your  sister.  My  sister  will  doubtless 
write  you. 

I  am  so  glad,  and  it  must  be  so  great  a  satisfaction  to  you  both, 
that  your  brother  had  his  vacation  year  and  passed  it  as  he  wished  to, 
and  also  that  he  had  the  California  trip  and  received  the  honors  to 
which  he  was  so  richly  entitled. 

He  was  loved  and  honored  by  all  who  knew  him,  and  though  his 
life  is  so  sadly  shortened,  if  measured  by  his  good  deeds  and  achieve- 
ments as  compared  with  most  men's  lives,  it  shows  fullness  and 
completeness. 

With  sincerest  sympathy,  believe  me, 

Very  truly  yours, 

TIM.  W.  SPRAGUE. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  189 

CLEVELAND  PARK,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

September  8,  '15. 
Miss  KATE  A.  M.  MAHONEY, 

Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Dear  Madam: 

I  am  simply  heartbroken  over  your  information  concerning  the 
death  of  your  dear  brother,  Mr.  James  Mahoney.  I  feel  the  bereave- 
ment so  deeply  that  I  cannot  resign  myself  to  the  thought  of  never 
seeing  again  in  life  a  friend  who  has  won  the  heart  of  everyone  who 
was  privileged  to  know  his  sterling  qualities  of  soul,  of  character, 
of  intellect.  What  a  loss  to  you,  to  me,  to  the  cause  of  justice  and 
righteousness! 

Only  yesterday  I  wrote  him  a  long  intimate  letter  on  his  publication, 
for  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  to  the  University  Club,  Boston. 
I  beg  you,  when  sorting  his  correspondence  later  on,  to  return  it  to 
me  after  reading. 

His  golden  soul,  his  true  big  heart,  his  holy  wrath  at  all  injustice, 
baseness,  calumny  of  individual  or  race  has  endeared  him  to  all  the 
new  friends  at  the  Cosmos  Club,  as  if  he  had  been  ours  for  an  age. 

I  shall  be  with  you  in  heart  and  thought  on  Saturday  during  the 
solemnity,  and  ever  the  splendid  friend,  the  excellent  man  will  be 
unforgotten. 

If  I  ever  may  be  of  service  to  you,  his  sister,  please  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  command  me. 

He  is  with  God,  and  we  shall  ever  feel  his  blessed  presence.  Ruhe 
sanf t,  Friede  seiner  Ashe !  Pia  anima  salve! 

May  God  console  you! 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

HERMAN  SCHOENFELD, 

Professor  of  Germanics. 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON  UNIVERSITY. 


401  BUNKER  HILL  ST.,  CHARLESTOWN. 

Miss  NELLIE  M.  MAHONEY, 
North  Brookfield,  Mass. 
My  dear  Miss  Mahoney: 

First  of  all  accept  a  rather  belated  acknowledgment  of  the  studies 
you  were  good  enough  to  send  me  and  which  represent,  I  presume, 
the  last  serious  work  your  brother  James  was  ever  able  to  do. 

They  manifest  the  same  painstaking  care,  the  mastery  of  detail 
and  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  subject  as  a  whole,  which  always 
characterized  his  endeavors  in  his  chosen  field,  as  far  as  I  knew  it. 

I  need  hardly  say  to  you  how  sudden  the  shock,  or  how  poignant 


190  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the  grief  of  those  who  had  labored  with  him  here  in  Charlestown, 
when  the  news  came  to  us  that  James  Mahoney  was  dead. 

When  last  we  had  seen  him,  his  life  seemed  so  full  of  promise,  that 
it  was  difficult  for  us  to  understand  that  he  was  no  more. 

A  shining  mark  has  in  tnith  departed,  and  we  mourn  with  you  in 
the  loss  of  one  who  stood  always  in  our  minds  as  a  high  type  of  a 
kindly,  scholarly  and  courteous  Christian  gentleman. 

Since  his  death  I  have  thought  of  him  often  as  one  fulfilling  to  the 
letter  the  ideal  of  the  poet  when  he  said: 

"E'en  as  he  trod  that  day,  to  God 

So  walked  he  from  his  birth, 
In  simpleness  and  gentleness 
And  honor  and  clean  mirth." 

May  he  bring  you  comfort  and  peace. 

Sincerely  yours, 

DR.  JOHN  F.  O'BRIEN,  JOHN  F.  O'BRIEN. 

Member  Catholic  Literary  Union. 
June  27,  1916. 

1463  BEACON  ST.,  BROOKLJNE,  MASS., 

December  4,  1916. 

The  death  of  James  Mahoney  removes  from  the  educational  world 
one  who  possessed  the  ability  and  intelligence  of  the  college  trained 
man  combined  with  the  charm  and  courtesy  of  the  travelled  man  of 
the  world.  Such  representatives  of  the  teachers'  profession  are  all 
too  rare  in  this  day  of  commercialized  talents  and  inelegant  diction. 

BARONESS  ROSE  POSSE. 

It  was  with  deep  regret  that  I  learned  of  the  sudden  passing  of 
James  Mahoney.  Knowing  him  for  many  years,  I  learned  to 
appreciate  his  devotion  to  high  ideals,  to  noble  principles  and  loyalty 
to  his  family. 

He  impressed  me  as  a  man  of  wide  intelligence  and  fine  linguistic 
ability. 

WM.  T.  STRONG. 
BOSTON. 

December  3,  1916. 

OAKWOOD 
Perkins  Street 
Jamaica  Plain 

September  7,  1915. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

We  were  dreadfully  shocked  by  the  sad  news  of  your  brother's 
sudden  death,  and  my  thoughts  are  with  you  every  hour,  knowing 
what  a  great  sorrow  and  loss  has  come  to  you. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  191 

We  indeed  feel  it  in  our  measure,  having  lost  so  good  a  friend,  but 
I  cannot  feel  that  he  is  far  away,  and  to  dwell  on  his  many  virtues 
and  what  he  was  to  the  whole  community  is  a  great  consolation. 

We  were  looking  forward  to  seeing  him  after  our  long  absence  and 
now  we  must  look  still  further  forward — to  another  world. 

Will  you  have  the  great  kindness  to  let  us  know,  when  you  are  able, 
of  any  funeral  service  that  we  could  attend.  He  was  so  good  to  my 
children  that  they  would  like  also  to  go. 

You  will  not  think  it  presumptuous  that  we  should  grieve  with  you 
— and  offer  our  deepest  sympathy  in  the  losing  of  one  of  the  best 
Christians  I  have  ever  known. 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

ELIZABETH  WARD  PERKINS. 
DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  am  sure  that  I  can  do  no  better  than  to  say  how  cordially  I 
endorse  all  that  my  wife  has  written  you  about  your  brother. 

He  was  indeed  a  man  whom  any  one  would  have  been  proud  to  be 
associated  with  and  I  wish  I  could  have  been  more  with  him  in  his 
work  and  he  in  mine. 

Hoping  we  will  see  you  when  we  return  to  Boston, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 
July  24,  1916.  CHARLES  BRUEN  PERKINS. 

WENTWORTH  MANSION 
PORTSMOUTH,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 

DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

I  was  surprised  and  shocked  to  get  your  word  about  the  passing  of 
our  friend  and  worker,  James  Mahoney. 

I  came  across,  today,  a  letter  from  him,  in  which  he  spoke  of  going 
to  Colorado,  and  I  was  wondering  if  he  had  got  home  by  this  time. 

I  have  been,  for  many  years,  associated  with  Mr.  Mahoney  in  the 
work  of  the  Public  School  Art  League,  which  he  was  so  deeply 
interested  in,  and  kept  alive  in  the  face  of  careless  and  ill-sustained 
support ;  and  I  learned  to  respect  him  very  highly,  for  the  stout  and 
chivalrous  fight  which  he  kept  up. 

It  was  Mrs.  Henry  Whitman  whom  I  heard  characterize  him  as  a 
"Knight  of  Old" — and  indeed  he  was  that. 

He  had,  we  all  knew,  the  courage  of  his  qualities  of  worth  and  pur- 
pose; but  the  qualities  carried  on  the  small  league  year  in  and  year 
out,  until  its  fruits  could  be  counted  with  real  satisfaction  and  some 
pride. 

I  am  pleased  to  be  asked  to  render  to  him  the  last  token  which  you 
ask  me  to  join  in.* 

I  am 

respectfully  yours 
September  8th,  1915.  J.  T.  COOLIDGE. 

*  Mr.  Coolidge  was  a  pallbearer. 


192  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

WEST  ROXBURY  HIGH  SCHOOL, 

BOSTON,  October  8,  1915. 
THE  MISSES  MAHONEY, 

72  G  St.,  South  Boston,  Mass. 
Chere  Mesdames: 

The  English  Council  desires,  through  its  Secretary,  to  express  its 
sympathy  for  you  in  the  great  loss  you  have  sustained  in  the  death  of 
your  beloved  brother. 

May  the  record  of  his  scholarly  achievements,  the  sympathy  of  his 
associates,  and  the  testimony  of  his  friends  comfort  you  in  your 
sorrow. 

Sincerely  yours, 

MARY  I.  ADAMS, 
Secretary  of  English  Council. 

WHEREAS,  WTe,  the  members  of  the  South  Boston  Citizens'  Associa- 
tion, have  with  profound  sorrow  received  the  sad  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  James  Mahoney,  master  of  English  at  the  South  Boston 
High  School;  be  it 

Resolved  That,  by  his  death,  this  community  has  lost  one  of  its 
most  respected  citizens  and  gifted  educators, — and  this  Association, 
one  of  its  most  beloved  members;  be  it  further 

Resolved  That,  yielding  to  the  will  of  Him  who  orders  all  things  for 
the  best,  and  whose  acts  are  conceived  in  mercy,  we  desire  to  attest 
our  appreciation  of  his  faithful  and  distinguished  service,  and  to 
record  our  love  and  esteem  for  one  who  was  a  true  teacher,  a  good 
citizen  and  a  loyal  friend;  be  it  further 

Resolved  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  upon  the  record  of  the 
Association,  and  that,  in  token  of  our  sympathy,  a  copy  hereof  be 
forwarded  by  the  Secretary  to  the  sisters  of  the  deceased. 

JAMES  E.  PRAY. 
HENRY  J.  D.  SMALL. 
MICHAEL  J.  MAHONEY. 

HYATTSVILLE,  MD. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  MAHONEY: 

It  is  with  great  sorrow  that  we  have  just  heard  of  the  death  of  your 
brother,  Mr.  James  Mahoney. 

While  Mr.  Mahoney  was  in  Washington  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  him  and  growing  very  much  attached  to  him.  Word  of  his 
death  came  as  a  great  shock  to  us  all. 

Mr.  Mahoney  and  my  little  ones  had  become  great  friends.  They 
had  such  delightful  times  when  Mr.  Mahoney  was  out  here  with  us 
and  again  at  their  "party"  as  Mr.  Mahoney  called  a  visit  we  made  to 
him  in  the  city. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  193 

I,  indeed,  wish  to  express  my  deepest  sympathy  to  you  and  your 
sister  in  your  great  bereavement,  for  we  all  realize  your  loss  is  a  very 
great  one. 

Sincerely, 

ISABEL  VAN  DUNSTER  RYAN. 
(Mrs.  W.  Carson  Ryan.) 

SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  A  GREAT  SCHOLAR 

As  one  enters  the  East  Boston  High  School  he  sees  a  number  of 
casts  of  famous  works  of  art.  These  casts  were  placed  there  a  few 
years  ago  by  the  Public  School  Art  League,  which  has  expended 
$25,000  in  this  work  for  the  schools.  The  League  was  organized  and 
kept  in  existence  for  twenty  years  by  the  late  James  Mahoney,  a 
teacher  in  the  schools  of  Boston  for  twenty-six  years  and  a  man  of 
remarkable  ability.  A  short  sketch  of  his  career  will  be  of  value  to 
the  scholars  of  the  High  School  and  to  East  Boston  people  generally. 

James  Mahoney  was  an  exceptional  man.  He  was  a  great  scholar. 
He  was  a  master  of  all  the  languages.  He  could  speak  French  and 
German  with  the  fluency  and  freedom  of  the  native.  He  had  mastered 
Greek  and  Latin,  and  his  friends  know  that  when  school  supervisors 
were  preparing  examinations  in  these  languages  to  determine  the 
eligibility  of  candidates  for  the  teaching  staff  not  infrequently  did 
they  ask  him  to  prepare  the  papers.  But  this  was  nothing  unusual 
for  his  great  gifts  were  always  at  the  disposal  of  others  as  hi  the  case 
of  a  mayor  of  Boston  whose  inaugural  message  received  much  favorable 
comment  for  its  treatment  of  educational  matters,  which  was  prepared 
and  written  for  him  by  James  Mahoney.  His  knowledge  of  English 
was  complete.  As  a  writer  his  style  was  clear,  simple  and  vigorous. 
As  a  speaker  he  was  fluent,  logical,  eloquent.  In  conversation  he  was 
delightful,  a  valuable  contributor  to  every  discussion,  his  sparkling 
wit  lighting  up  his  erudition  and  making  it  seem  the  simplest  of  things. 
Not  alone  was  James  Mahoney  exceptional  in  the  languages,  he  also 
knew  the  sciences  and  was  expert  at  mathematics.  He  was  also 
versed  in  all  branches  of  the  law,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Massachu- 
setts and  Federal  Bars.  In  short  he  excelled  in  every  field  of  intel- 
lectual effort. 

Personally  James  Mahoney  was  one  of  the  most  charming  of  men. 
He  was  gentle  and  considerate  of  others.  He  was  always  remembering 
the  landmarks  in  the  lives  of  his  friends  with  some  little  courtesy. 
He  was  loyal  to  his  friends.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  opinions,  but 
deferential  to  those  of  others.  His  chief  characteristic  was  a  passion 
for  truth.  He  was  all  charity  for  the  man  whose  limitations  were 
responsible  for  his  inability  to  see  or  admit  the  truth  upon  any  given 
issue,  but  he  had  no  patience  for  the  false  leader  or  the  man  of  pre- 
tentions  who  wilfully  misleads  for  private  or  corporation  profit.  He 


194  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

could  never  restrain  his  disgust  for  the  mediocrity  which  seemed  to 
dominate  invariably  the  schools  of  Boston.  Much  of  this  he  knew  was 
placed  in  power  by  book  companies  or  interests  seeking  a  vicious 
control  of  education.  He  had  nothing  but  contempt  for  the  man  who 
secured  school  preferment  through  book  company  influence  or  other- 
wise, save  only  for  scholarship.  Of  course  such  a  man  as  James 
Mahoney  was  without  favor  in  circles  that  controlled  school  adminis- 
tration, and  his  transcendent  ability  was  generally  ignored  in  favor 
of  the  trimmer  and  the  sycophant. 

But  if  the  petty  crowd  that  ran  the  schools  of  Boston  would  not 
give  James  Mahoney  that  power  and  control  which  his  great  gifts  and 
accomplishments  entitled  him  to,  and  which  would  have  benefited 
the  children  of  the  masses  beyond  measure,  there  were  others  who 
were  always  glad  to  have  his  assistance.  At  the  request  of  the 
Charlestown  Catholic  Literary  Union  he  drew  up  a  course  of  study 
and  hired  the  teachers  for  its  business  school.  He  gave  unstintedly 
of  his  time  after  his  duties  daily  in  the  South  Boston  High  School; 
indeed,  there  is  little  doubt  that  his  efforts  in  this  work  weakened  his 
robust  health.  In  his  four  years  of  administration  of  the  school  he 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  its  membership  increase  from  seventy 
to  nearly  five  hundred.  During  this  time  he  heard  the  writer  express 
the  wish  that  such  a  school  would  be  a  good  thing  for  East  Boston. 
Forthwith  he  volunteered  to  help  establish  a  school  here,  but  his  kind 
offer  had  to  be  declined  because  of  the  strain  it  meant  for  him.  The 
year  1915  was  a  sabbatical  year,  and  he  spent  it  at  Washington  making 
special  studies  for  the  National  Bureau  of  Education,  some  of  which 
were  printed  by  the  Government  under  the  titles,  "Advancement  of 
the  Teacher  With  the  Class";  "American  Citizenship  in  the  Educa- 
tional Surveys";  "Some  Foreign  Educational  Surveys."  In  the 
summer  he  went  to  Oakland  to  speak  before  the  National  Education 
Association,  and  while  returning  home  died  at  Colorado  Springs  from 
acute  indigestion,  his  strength  undermined  by  his  unremitting, 
intellectual  labors  for  others. 

A  brief  resume  of  James  Mahoney's  education  will  have  great  value 
for  high  school  students,  showing  that  study,  hard  study  is  necessary 
for  commanding  leadership. 

James  Mahoney  was  a  teacher  in  the  Worcester  High  School  for 
three  years,  a  teacher  in  the  Boston  English  High  School  for  nineteen 
years  and  a  teacher  in  the  South  Boston  High  School  for  seven 
years.  During  these  long  years  many  thousand  students  attended 
his  classes.  It  is  the  simplest  and  best  tribute  to  say  that  they  all 
respected  him  for  his  sterling  character,  for  his  great  learning  always 
at  their  disposal;  and  that  they  hold  his  memory  in  deep  affection. 

JAMES  E.  MAGUIRE. 


CHAPTER  X 

SUMMARY  OF  WORK  IN  WASHINGTON 

Nowhere  was  James  Mahoney's  bent  more  in  evidence  than  in  a 
series  of  monographs  produced  as  a  special  collaborator  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education.  It  must  be  said  at  the  outset  that 
they  are  not  popular  reading;  were  never  intended  to  be,  in  fact. 
They  are  all  intensely  technical,  dealing  with  problems  that  are  of  a 
real  universal  interest,  but  with  which  few  people  other  than  teachers 
concern  themselves,  or  perhaps  the  larger  body  of  people  known  as 
educators,  in  the  sense  of  students  of  pedagogic  questions — as  school 
committee  persons  of  the  earnest  type ;  parents  who  take  more  than 
a  perfunctory  interest  in  their  children's  education.  For  all  that, 
these  monographs  are  exceedingly  good  reading,  to  one  who  can 
do  a  little  digging. 

Among  the  more  elaborate  of  these  productions  selected  to  illus- 
trate this  particular  phase  of  readability  is  one  entitled  "Some 
Foreign  Educational  Surveys."  The  subject-matter  is  to  summarize 
in  a  handy  form,  the  data  and  conclusions  reached  in  surveys  of  school 
systems  abroad — a  survey  of  the  surveys — for  the  benefit  of  American 
teachers.  Not  all  of  the  expected  readers  can  read  the  surveys  in  the 
original  language.  Few  can  even  get  them  to  read.  Quite  a  few 
have  no  knack  of  wading  through  the  enormous  bulk,  usually,  of 
these  surveys,  to  get  what  they  want.  It  is  clear  that  if  some  one 
who  can  read  these  mines  of  information  in  the  original;  who,  more- 
over, is  supplied  with  a  great  many,  probably  most  of  the  good  ones ; 
being  a  government  official  who  in  addition  has  some  art  of  extracting 
in  a  brief  and  suggestive  form  what  the  American  teacher  desires  to 
know;  there  is  something  more  than  merely  compiling. 

Mahoney  did  all  of  those  things  and  delighted  in  the  work,  but  he 
did  more.  Punctuating  the  often,  to  the  average  reader,  dry-as-dust 
data  offered,  will  be  found  gems  of  comment,  incisive  and  illuminating, 
like  the  sotto  voce  remarks  of  a  listener  at  a  lecture,  say.  For  example 
in  reviewing  foreign  surveys,  he  presents  somewhat  fully  those  made 
in  England.  Among  others  "surveyed"  were  the  ragged  schools  of 
London,  where  an  attempt  is  made  to  educate  the  little  waifs  of  the 
British  metropolis.  After  presenting  enough  about  ragged  schools 
to  give  a  fair  idea  of  what  they  are,  Mahoney  observes :  "  It  is  note- 
worthy that  advanced  ideas  of  instruction  were  tried  out  first  on  the 
children  of  the  very  poor,  presumably  because  their  parents  would 
not  object."  To  one  who  knew  Mahoney,  this  would  come  as  a  very 


196  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

characteristic  comment.  He  delighted  in  sifting  out  the  nub,  often 
kept  in  the  background,  of  an  argument.  In  a  private  conversation, 
he  would  almost  surely  extend  the  above  by  observing  that  England 
always  tried  out  everything  on  somebody  before  trusting  the  idea; 
usually  on  people  who  couldn't  or  wouldn't  object. 

Speaking  in  general  of  these  surveys,  Mahoney  points  out  that 
in  Europe,  they  are,  as  a  rule,  made  by  the  central  government  and 
their  conclusions  carry  the  weight  of  governmental  authority  and  are 
conclusive  in  the  schools.  Continuing,  Mahoney  observes: 

"Even  a  slight  examination  of  these  reports  will  reveal  the  reason 
for  the  governmental  interest  in  surveys;  namely,  international 
industrial  competition,  and  the  disclosure  of  the  fact  that  industrial 
progress  is  dependent  upon  education. 

"It  is  interesting  in  this  connection  to  note  that  the  American 
survey  movement,  and  the  efforts  to  reorganize  American  schools  in 
industrial  and  vocational  ways,  are  coincident  with  a  realization  by 
the  people  of  the  United  States  of  the  wonderful  progress  made  by 
Germany  in  vocational  education,  and  her  consequent  advance  in 
international  industry  and  commerce." 

Mahoney's  work  on  the  subject  was  done  practically  during  the 
first  year  of  the  war,  being  published  by  the  government  on  Sep- 
tember 10,  1915. 

The  general  character  of  all  the  monographs  may  be  gathered  from 
the  letter  of  transmissal  of  the  one  on  foreign  surveys  by  the  Federal 
Commissioner  of  Education,  P.  P.  Claxton,  addressed  to  the  secretary 
of  the  interior  at  Washington.  He  writes: 

"The  large  sums  paid  for  education  in  the  United  States,  the  large 
proportion  of  the  population  enrolled  in  public  schools  of  lower  or 
higher  grade,  the  feeling  that  the  public  welfare  and  private  weal  alike 
depend  upon  the  efficiency  of  the  schools,  the  demand  that  at  least 
all  schools  supported  by  public  taxation  shall  be  constantly  remodeled 
and  readjusted  to  meet  the  needs  of  modern  life,  and  the  keener  spirit 
of  criticism  produced  by  a  more  general  study  of  the  principles  and 
methods  of  education,  have  all  contributed  to  the  interest  in  educa- 
tional surveys  of  State,  county,  and  city  school  systems  and  surveys 
of  individual  institutions  of  higher  learning. 

"Between  forty  and  fifty  such  surveys,  more  or  less  formal,  have 
been  made  in  this  country  within  the  last  few  years,  and  many  others 
have  been  planned.  Like  everything  connected  with  public  education, 
the  principles  of  the  survey  are  universal.  Wherever  made,  the 
legitimate  purpose  of  the  survey  is  to  bring  about  a  more  economic  use 
of  money  and  equipment  and  a  better  adaptation  of  educational 
agencies  to  educational  needs. 

"Therefore  educational  surveys  and  investigations  mother  countries 
have  a  vital  interest  for  students  of  education  and  education  officers 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  197 

in  this  country.  For  this  reason  I  requested  Mr.  James  Mahoney, 
head  of  the  English  department  in  the  South  Boston  High  School, 
Boston,  Mass.,  and  a  special  collaborator  in  this  bureau,  to  prepare  a 
brief  account  of  some  of  the  more  important  foreign  surveys. 

"This  he  has  done  with  much  care  and  with  such  thoroughness  as 
the  available  material  would  permit,  and  has  embodied  the  results  in 
the  accompanying  manuscript.  I  recommend  that  the  manuscript 
be  published  as  a  bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Education." 

Perhaps  as  an  example  of  what  Mahoney's  survey  of  a  given  survey 
is,  there  may  be  cited  what  he  culled  from  a  French  report  made  in 
1899  on  the  secondary  schools  of  France.  It  is  as  usual  in  France, 
the  work  of  a  governmental  commission,  headed  by  M.  Ribot,  which 
raked  up  every  fact  it  could  trace  and  published  the  results  in  six  big 
volumes.  What  they  found  is  perhaps  of  no  special  interest  to  that 
tremendously  careless  person,  the  "average  reader,"  but  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  commission,  has  something  more  than  an  academic  interest. 

"Less  uniformity,  less  bureaucracy,  a  little  liberty"  is  the  general 
demand  made  in  the  commissioner's  report,  speaking  of  the  French 
secondary  schools. 

"There  is  no  life  in  the  secondary  schools  because  they  lack  real 
autonomy;  the  system  suffers  from  over  centralized  administration. 
The  head  masters  have  responsibility,  but  no  initiative;  the  junior 
masters  are  not  respected;  Latin  has  received  too  much  attention. 
France  has  no  lack  of  learned  men,  but  it  does  lack  engineers  and 
men  of  affairs. 

"It  is  outclassed  by  Germany  in  this  respect;  not  that  the  classical 
course  should  be  suppressed,  but  it  should  not  be  the  exclusive  kind 
of  education;  it  should  not  prevent  young  people  who  have  talent 
for  practical  affairs  from  receiving  suitable  instruction. 

"Attendance  at  the  lycees  and  the  colleges  does  not  increase.  The 
increase  in  cost  of  attending  them  has  had  something  to  do  with  this. 
Religious  causes  have  also  been  at  work.  The  state  should  respect 
the  right  of  the  individual  to  choose  the  instruction  that  he  wishes 
for  his  children,  but  it  must  use  all  legitimate  means  of  influence  to 
get  such  instruction  to  conform  to  certain  standards. 

"The  course  of  study  suffers  from  uniformity.  The  modern  world 
has  an  entirely  different  social  and  economic  basis  from  that  of  the 
ancient  world,  and  yet  the  dead  languages  continue  to  be  the  substance 
of  our  education.  In  this  there  is  injury  as  well  as  danger,  individual 
and  national. 

"Science  has  become  of  vast  importance,  and  history  and  modern 
languages  demand  a  place.  Of  course,  we  cannot  dispense  with 
Latin,  for  it  is  the  mother  of  French;  and  Roman  life  has  contributed 
much  to  modern  French  life;  and  yet  it  is  necessary  to  prepare  for 
modern  conditions." 


198  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

"It  is  not  necessary  to  overburden  the  pupils  with  too  many  new 
topics  at  the  same  time;  a  more  rational  method  of  teaching  must  be 
adopted;  a  better  arrangement  of  subjects,  according  to  the  age  and 
attainment  of  the  pupils,  and  a  proper  utilization  of  their  time. 
Besides,  there  are  too  many  changes  of  teachers.  The  same  teacher 
continued  two  or  three  years,  with  one  set  of  pupils,  can  accomplish 
much  more  than  is  at  present  the  case. 

"  Statistics  prove  that  most  of  our  graduates  are  headed  for  govern- 
mental positions.  This  is  a  grave  danger.  It  is  necessary  to  avoid 
it  by  preparing  our  young  people  for  the  other  necessary  occupations." 

It  will  be  safe  to  venture,  that  nowhere  in  the  whole  six  volumes, 
probably  very  anxiously  considered  by  the  French  commissioners, 
was  there  a  more  illuminating  passage  than  the  foregoing.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  passage  is  no  mere  rhetorical  flourish  of  a  single  educa- 
tor, but  the  utterance  of  the  French  government,  fifteen  years  in 
advance  of  the  greatest  war  in  history,  with  France  fighting  for  its 
existence.  It  would  be  interesting,  even  to  many  who  are  not  educa- 
tors, to  learn  how  France  heeded  the  warning. 

In  a  report  on  his  sabbatical  leave  in  February,  1915,  Mahoney 
wrote  to  the  Boston  superintendent  of  schools,  from  Washington: 
"Judging  that  the  educational  surveys  would  be  of  great  value  in  my 
research,  I  have  gathered  what  I  presume  is  the  most  complete  collec- 
tion of  surveys  that  exists  and  I  am  now  examining  them,  with  the 
above  object  in  mind."  His  reference  to  the  "above  object"  was  to 
the  studies  reviewed  herewith. 

Another  monograph  by  Mahoney  is  entitled  "Advancement  of  the 
Teacher  with  the  Class."  It  is  obviously  a  severely  professional 
question,  which  outsiders  may  well  leave  to  the  elect — whether  in  say 
six  years  of  going  to  school  the  pupils  shall  always  have  the  same 
teacher,  or  shall  have  six  during  the  period,  each  teacher  being  rooted 
to  one  grade. 

Commissioner  Claxton  was  opposed  to  the  latter  plan,  though  it  is 
the  plan  said  to  be  in  vogue  in  the  large  majority  of  American  schools. 
The  commissioner  caused  an  extensive  inquiry  to  be  made  on  the 
subject,  largely  by  a  questionnaire  among  superintendents  of  schools 
and  among  teachers.  Replies  were  received  from  813  superintendents 
in  46  states  and  from  97  teachers  in  12  states  and  18  cities.  The 
superintendents  were  asked  for  opinions  on  four  questions.  There 
were  about  two  dozen  queries  to  each  correspondent  in  addition. 
The  teacher  had  a  more  detailed  program.  The  mere  statistics  of  the 
questionnaire  indicate  a  need  of  a  summary,  within  reach  of  the  aver- 
age mind. 

This  Mahoney  did  handsomely.  The  result  is  extremely  good 
reading,  provided  the  reader  can  follow  so  very  technical  a  question. 
To  the  person  of  any  curiosity  in  a  professional  matter,  the  summary 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  199 

of  what  those  910  people  thought  on  the  topic,  usually  quoting  actual 
experiences,  is  exceedingly  attractive. 

"American  Citizenship  in  the  Educational  Surveys"  is  another 
study  by  Mahoney  on  a  subject  of  more  general  interest  perhaps  than 
the  foregoing.  Here  again  it  was  Mahoney's  task  to  digest  a  vast 
mass  of  material,  in  the  form  of  surveys,  that  is  practically  inaccessi- 
ble to  most  people,  even  to  teachers;  yet  it  is  of  more  than  professional 
interest,  that  children  in  the  United  States  should  be  trained  in  Ameri- 
can citizenship.  Mahoney  wrote  himself  on  this  phase,  in  1913, 
somewhat  before  President  Wilson  tried  to  instruct  European  powers 
in  what  America  was:  "Keen  vision  and  searching  analysis  are  prob- 
ing every  phase  of  public  life.  The  spirit  of  America  is  awake. 
With  renewed  conviction  of  her  mission  in  the  world,  she  looks  for 
facts,  and  seeks  to  square  her  conduct  with  her  conscience." 

As  might  be  expected,  such  a  question  among  a  lot  of  instructors 
provoked  a  wride  variety  of  opinions.  For  example,  the  annual 
problem  in  most  cities  of  selecting  a  school  board  is  one  thorny  phase. 
The  fact  that  knowledge  of  school  matters  is  rather  a  disqualification 
for  the  office  of  school  committee  does  not  deter  many  teachers  from 
urging  that  the  schools  should,  above  all  things,  be  taken  out  of  politics. 
Some  of  the  respondents  rather  ruefully  observe  that  taking  the  schools 
out  of  politics  is  impossible  in  the  United  States  and  urge  the  next 
best  thing — get  people  of  at  least  average  intelligence  on  the  school 
boards.  Indeed,  there  is  a  lot  of  good,  though  fragmentary  reading, 
in  this  necessarily  scrappy  monograph. 

It  was  a  subject,  always  very  close  to  Mahoney's  heart,  particularly 
that  question  of  politics  in  the  schools;  of  "pull"  rather  than  compe- 
tence, determining  a  teacher's  fate.  Even  an  enumeration  of  the 
questions  raised  by  the  apparently  innocent  title  of  the  production  is 
too  long  to  have  a  place  here. 

A  few  may  be  taken  at  random,  as  indicating  what  thoroughness 
can  do  in  developing  a  subject;  and  Mahoney  was  thorough.  For 
example:  the  appointment  of  teachers,  the  "pull"  or  competence 
phase;  details  should  be  left  to  superintendents;  school  buildings 
and  equipment,  which  means  a  choice  of  expensive  buildings  so  dear 
to  the  politician  and  his  contractor  friends  or  the  relatively  cheap 
equipment  in  a  plain  building,  which  of  course  would  never  do  in 
politics;  ventilation,  as  you  cannot  be  a  good  citizen  if  brought  up 
on  bad  air;  industrial  training;  teaching  of  good  English;  fitting 
pupils  for  their  life;  training  for  practical  work;  increasing  interest 
in  farm  life;  training  interest,  initiative  and  ambition;  training  in 
thoroughness.  The  selection  is  of  course  inadequate  as  outlining 
the  subject,  but  shows  what  features,  hardly  suspected  by  the  out- 
sider, can  be  considered  in  dealing  with  the  teaching  of  citizenship. 

The  writer  recalls  one  discussion,  many  years  before  these  mono- 


200  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

graphs  were  written,  or  probably  even  thought  of.  It  arose  over  an 
outsider's  expressed  wish  that  something  of  the  methods  of  the  old- 
time  district  school-teacher  could  be  injected  into  the  modern  system 
of  education.  These  old-timers  may  have  had  their  faults,  but  they 
certainly  did  a  great  work  well. 

They  molded  the  characters  of  those  who  have  contributed  to 
make  America  great,  even  if  some  of  their  purely  literary  work  was 
crude.  Mahoney  pointed  out  at  the  time  the  practical  difficulties, 
though  as  near  as  can  be  recalled  he  admitted  that  there  was  some- 
thing about  the  old-district  school-teacher  that  has  gone,  but  was 
well  worth  saving.  On  reading  his  review  of  the  results  of  advancing 
teachers  with  their  classes,  there  seemed  to  be  an  echo  of  that  old 
discussion;  for  the  district  teacher  never  taught  in  any  way  but 
advancing  with  her  classes.  Whether  it  is  such  an  echo  or  not, 
Mahoney's  aim  is  quite  clear  throughout — that  the  teacher  should 
have  the  facts,  and  he  gave  the  best  that  was  in  him  to  advance  his 
noble  vocation. 

JAMES  W.  McCoy. 


CHAPTER  XI 

CONNECTION  WITH  SOCIETIES 

The  following  papers  will  give  some  idea  of  James  Mahoney's 
activity  outside  of  his  regular  work : 

M.  P.  Shawkey 

State  Superintendent 

State  of  West  Virginia 

DEPARTMENT  OF  FREE  SCHOOLS 

Charlestown 

September  22,  1915. 
DR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

South  Boston,  Mass. 
My  dear  Doctor  Mahoney: 

I  congratulate  you  on  the  excellent  paper  which  you  presented  at 
the  meeting  of  the  Department  of  Superintendence  at  San  Francisco. 
You  have  done  a  fine  piece  of  work  and  when  your  report  is  published 
it  will  be  of  very  distinct  value  to  the  educational  forces  of  the  country. 
Thanking  you  for  the  service  rendered,  I  am 
Very  truly  yours, 

M.  P.  SHAWKEY. 

PARENTS'  ASSOCIATION  OF  THE  SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH 
SCHOOL 

[Extracts  from  a  Local  Paper.] 

OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  YOUNG  MEN 

Business  Men  Talk  to  Parents — Chances  Better  Now  than  Thirty  or 
Forty  Years  Ago 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  meetings  ever  held  by 
the  Parents'  Association  of  the  South  Boston  High  School  was  that 
of  last  evening,  in  the  high  school  assembly  hall,  when  three  men, 
each  prominent  in  different  fields  of  business  and  commercial  life, 
addressed  a  large  gathering  of  the  members  on  the  subject  of 
"Vocations." 

It  was  the  idea  of  James  Mahoney  of  the  faculty  and  chairman  of 
the  feature  committee  of  the  Parents'  Association. 

Headmaster  A.  D.  Small,  president  of  the  association  presided,  and 
the  speakers  were  Thomas  B.  Fitzpatrick  of  Brown  Durrell  Co.; 
Henry  J.  Bowen,  a  leading  real  estate  man  of  South  Boston,  and 
Maurice  M.  Osborne  of  the  Walworth  Manufacturing  Company. 


202  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

HIGH  SCHOOL  PARENTS'  ASSOCIATION 

The  Parents'  Association  of  the  local  high  school  had  a  special 
meeting  Thursday  night  in  the  assembly  hall  of  the  high  school 
building,  and  a  committee  under  the  direction  of  the  master,  James 
Mahoney,  arranged  a  delightful  program  to  follow  the  business 
meeting. 

Mr.  L.  D.  Gibbs  of  the  Edison  Electric  Illuminating  Company  gave 
an  address  on  "Efficiency  in  School  Work,"  and  Mrs.  H.  M.  Garner, 
buyer  for  Henry  Siegel  Company,  spoke  on  "How  May  Girls  Succeed 
in  Business." 

The  second  regular  meeting  of  the  South  Boston  High  School 
Parents'  Association  proved  very  instructive  for  the  members  present. 

Mr.  Mahoney,  one  of  the  teaching  staff,  who  is  much  interested  in 
the  parents'  league  movement,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Home  and 
School  Association,  told  of  the  great  good  to  be  derived  from  the 
frequent  meetings  of  parents  and  teachers,  that  the  bond  of  under- 
standing might  be  strengthened. 

Mr.  Mahoney  made  a  strong  point  of  the  necessity  of  sympathy 
between  pupil  and  teacher,  and  to  create  that  sympathy  it  was 
necessary  to  know  in  a  measure  the  environment,  and  in  that  study 
of  environment  the  home  conditions  were  an  important  factor. 

He  spoke  also  of  the  need  of  home  study  and  encouragement,  and 
of  developing  the  special  gifts  in  a  pupil  which  would  become  apparent 
to  the  teacher  by  daily  contact  with  the  well-meaning  pupil. 

Saturday,  April  23,  1910. 

James  Mahoney,  instructor  of  English,  gave  interesting  statistics, 
scanned  from  the  report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  comparing 
percentages  throughout  the  country  of  the  numerous  high  schools, 
the  showing  of  the  South  Boston  High  School  in  its  individual  per- 
centage being  very  satisfactory. 

There  could  be  no  argument  against  the  study  of  English,  its 
necessity  being  quite  universal,  and  the  instructor  clearly  outlined 
that  it  was  the  small,  every-day  errors  which  prove  the  greatest 
problems  to  the  teacher,  the  habits  formed  in  speech,  which  were  so 
firmly  planted  that  it  was  necessary  to  get  beyond  the  root  of  the 
habit  in  order  to  oust  it  from  its  permanency. 

Mr.  Mahoney  deplored  the  fact  that  while  the  high  schools  of  the 
United  States  registered  in  the  entering  class  over  75  per  cent,  there 
was  but  one-fourth  of  the  pupils  who  completed  the  course;  while  a 
significant  comparison  of  the  figures  showed  that  three-fourths  of  the 
high  schools  in  the  United  States  were  maintained  and  attended  in 
the  commonly  called  Northern  States. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  203 

VITAL  INTEREST  TO  SOUTH  BOSTON  PARENTS 

A  special  committee  of  the  Parents'  Association  of  the  South  Boston 
High  School,  consisting  of  Mr.  Joseph  W.  Whall,  Mr.  James  P.  Holland 
and  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  has  been  doing  splendid  work  along  voca- 
tional lines  during  the  school  year  now  drawing  to  a  close.  It  has 
induced  the  association  to  hold  evening  meetings  to  secure  the  presence 
of  the  fathers,  as  well  as  the  mothers,  and  it  has  furnished  for  the 
parents  a  most  interesting  series  of  programs,  in  which  addresses  on 
"Training  for  Success  in  Business"  have  been  the  leading  feature. 
Many  of  the  most  prominent  business  men  of  South  Boston  and 
Boston  have  addressed  these  high  school  meetings. 

Included  in  the  list  of  speakers  are  the  names  of  Mr.  George  F. 
Lawley  of  Geo.  Lawley  and  Son,  Mr.  James  J.  Murphy  of  Murphy 
Bros.,  Mr.  Robert  Bishop  of  the  Bishop  Mfg.  Co.,  Mr.  Grueby  of  the 
Grueby  Faiance  Works,  Mr.  Gibbs  of  the  Edison  Electric  Illuminating 
Co.,  Mr.  T.  B.  Fitzpatrick  of  Brown  Durrell  Co.,  Mr.  Francis  B. 
Sears  of  the  Shawmut  National  Bank,  and  Mr.  William  E.  Parker, 
treasurer  of  Library  Bureau. 

This  special  committee  now  proposes  to  issue  a  circular  to  business 
men  generally,  asking  them  to  help  get  positions  for  the  boys  and 
girls  who  graduate  from  our  high  school. 

We  sincerely  trust  that  the  above  mentioned  committee  will  con- 
tinue its  good  work  during  the  next  school  year. 

A  circular  letter  prepared  by  the  special  committee  to  be  sent  to 
business  men  generally: 

SOUTH  BOSTON,  April  20,  1911. 
M.. 


We,  the  undersigned,  representing  the  Trade  Association  of  South 
Boston,  and  the  Parents'  Association  of  the  South  Boston  High  School, 
believe  that  your  favorable  consideration  and  kind  reply  to  the  follow- 
ing will  result  in  the  mutual  advantage  of  all  concerned. 

High  school  records  show  that  many  boys  and  girls  leave  school 
each  year  before  the  spring  term  ends  in  June,  fearing  that  if  they 
wait  till  school  closes,  they  may  not  secure  positions,  as  so  many 
pupils  will  at  that  time  be  trying  to  obtain  work  for  the  summer. 

We,  while  wishing  in  no  way  to  interfere  in  the  securing  of  positions 
by  any  boys  or  girls  at  any  time,  feel  that  if  you  will  advise  such 
applicants  to  continue  until  the  term  ends,  assuring  them  that  what- 
ever positions  you  may  have  will  not  be  open  to  pupils  until  July, 
such  pupils  will  continue  at  school  till  the  close  of  the  term,  and  will 
be  more  likely  to  return  to  school  the  following  autumn.  For,  if  they 
leave  school  in  April  or  May,  as  many  now  do,  the  chances  are  on 


204  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

account  of  the  long  break  in  school  work  that  they  will  not  return  to 
school  again. 

We  are  especially  anxious  to  secure  for  our  graduates,  positions, 
which  in  the  opinion  of  their  teachers  and  parents,  they  are  best  fitted 
for.  We  believe  that  vocational  training  in  the  schools  will  result  in 
bringing  out  the  special  talents  of  each  pupil,  will  make  pupils  more 
valuable  to  their  employers,  and  will  cause  parents  to  allow  their 
children  to  take  the  full  high  school  course.  We  trust  that  you  will 
be  sufficiently  interested  in  this  to  favor  us  with  suggestions  as  to 
what  special  training  you  consider  that  your  employees  ought  to  have, 
and  also  as  to  any  other  matters  in  this  connection  which  may  occur 
to  you. 

We  shall  take  the  liberty  of  sending  to  you,  about  the  first  of  June,, 
a  request  in  regard  to  what  positions  you  may  have  open  in  the  near 
future,  which  high  school  graduates  might  be  able  to  fill.  It  may  well 
be  that  you  could  now  give  us  such  information;  it  may  also  be 
that  you  would  welcome  interviews  with  a  few  of  our  students  who  will 
graduate  in  June. 

We  shall  be  most  grateful  for  whatever  advice  or  information  you 
may  give  us. 

Sincerely  yours, 
JAMES  J.  MURPHY, 

President,  South  Boston  Trade  Association, 
JOSEPH  W.  F.  WHALL, 

Chairman,  Special  Committee  of  Parents' 
Association  of  South  Boston  High  School, 
GEO.  LAWLEY, 
JAMES  P.  HOLLAND, 
JAMES  MAHONEY. 


A  sample  of  the  program  regularly  furnished : 

You  are  very  cordially  invited  to  attend  the  exercises  of  the  Parent's  Association 
of  the  South  Boston  High  School  next  Thursday  Evening,  April  20,  at  7.30  p.  m., 
in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  High  School. 

PROGRAM 

1.  Song,  "Der  Lindenbaum,"  Franz  Schubert 

German   Glee   Club,    conducted    by   Miss   Bertha   Vogel 

2.  Address,  "Preparedness  for  Business" 

Mr.  William  E.  Parker,  Treasurer  of  Library  Bureau 

3.  Piano  Duet,  Overture,  "Poet  and  Peasant"  Balfe 

Miss  Mary  C.  and  Miss  Margaret  A.  Kent 

4.  Address,  "What  Leads  to  Success  in  Manufacturing?" 

Mr.  Robert  Bishop  of  the  Bishop  Manufacturing  Co. 

5.  Soprano  Solo,  Selected 

Miss  Alice  M.  Hagerty;   Miss  Mary  C.  Kent,  Accompanist 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  205 

6.  Address,  "Elements  of  Success  in  Banking" 

Mr.  Francis  B.  Sears,  Vice  President  of  the 
Shawmut  National  Bank 

7.  "Die  Wacht  am  Rhein,"  Karl  Wilhelm 

German  Glee  Club,  conducted  by  Miss  Bertha  Vogel 
P.  S.     A  large  attendance  is  very  earnestly  requested. 

James  Mahoney  not  only  secured  the  speakers  but  provided  the 
entertainment  also. 


SOUTH  BOSTON  TRADE  ASSOCIATION 

The  Trade  Association  of  South  Boston  listened  in  Bethesta  Hall 
building,  South  Boston,  at  one  of  its  most  interesting  and  enthusi- 
astic meetings  of  the  year  to  a  most  instructive  address  by  James 
Mahoney,  master  of  the  local  high  school. 

Mr.  Mahoney,  who  has  made  a  study  of  this  subject  for  the  past 
eighteen  years  and  is  one  of  the  most  energetic  of  Boston's  instructors 
was  listened  to  attentively.  He  said  in  part : 

"Vocational  training  is  educating  a  student  along  the  lines  which 
will  serve  him  best  in  his  life  work.  Vocational  direction  consists 
first  in  endeavoring  to  ascertain  what  work  he  will  be  best  able  to  do 
and  secondly,  guiding  him  into  that  calling.  About  18,000,000 
children  crowd  our  public  schools,  and  in  all  these  millions  no  two 
children  are  alike  and  the  circumstances  and  possibilities  of  no  two 
are  the  same. 

"How  shall  we  undertake  to  ascertain  what  their  talents  are  and 
what  their  aptitudes  may  be  for  the  different  possible  callings  to 
which  in  life  they  might  go? 

"To  attain  vocational  direction  perfectly  is  beyond  human  power 
but  that  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  strive  toward  an  ideal. 
Most  parents  today  seem  to  think  they  are  incapable  of  guiding  their 
children  to  a  wise  choice  and  they  instinctively  trust  to  the  schools  to 
select  the  studies  for  their  training.  The  schools  are  beginning  to 
doubt  their  wisdom  and  look  to  the  parents  for  guidance. 

"One  expedient  that  is  being  used  is  the  so-called  vocational  card 
which  should  record  all  pertinent  facts  regarding  the  child  on  his 
first  entry  into  school  and  accompany  him  from  grade  to  grade  with 
teachers'  notes  of  his  progress  and  efficiency  and  finally,  when  he 
leaves  the  system,  stands  as  a  summary  of  his  school  experience,  to 
guide  him  and  parents  to  a  wise  choice  and  also  as  an  index  for  those 
who  would  employ  him. 

"The  vocational  card  will,  indeed,  mark  tendencies  and  possibly 
permanent  traits  in  character  and  in  mind.  It  may  indicate  natural 
bias  toward  certain  work  or  line  of  activity  and  an  aversion  to  others. 

"The  Trade  Association,  as  an  organized  body,  could  be  of  very 


206  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

great  service  in  encouraging  pupils  to  stay  in  school  until  they  are 
old  enough  and  sufficiently  well  trained. 

"  Could  not  the  association  help  still  further,  while  using  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  needs  and  business  possibilities  of  this  district  to  encour- 
age the  establishment  here  of  such  lines  of  business  activity  as  could 
develop  to  advantage  and  at  the  same  time  to  encourage  the  growth  of 
such  allied  vocational  and  continuation  schools  as  would  train  higher 
grades  of  artisans  and  industrial  leaders? 

"  The  greatest  educational  need  of  the  day  is  to  find  suitable  occupa- 
tion and  training  for  the  mass  of  our  public  school  children  between 
the  ages  of  fourteen  and  twenty  years  when  they  have  left  school  and 
are  wandering  aimlessly  into  over-crowded  callings.  I  am  convinced 
that,  for  most  young  people,  the  future  will  brighten  and  their  moral 
earnestness  and  their  attention  to  their  studies  will  increase  when 
they  learn  that  every  hour  of  the  school  days  helps  or  hinders  their 
future  prospects." 

***** 

"What  can  business  men  of  South  Boston  do?  The  races  chiefly 
represented  in  South  Boston  are  those  that  have  been  foremost  in 
developing  modern  civilization  in  Europe  and  America,  viz.:  British 
(including  the  Irish,  Scotch  and  English),  and  the  Teutonic  stock 
represented  especially  by  the  Germans  and  Scandinavians,  and  add 
to  these  the  Slavic  and  Latin  elements. 

This  must  be  borne  in  mind,  for  if  odium  has  been  cast  on  this 
district  it  is  due  to  accidental  causes.  In  point  of  race,  language, 
in  family  integrity,  in  capacity  for  sacrifice  for  offspring,  in  all  the 
elements  that  go  to  produce  a  higher  order  of  things,  South  Boston 
furnishes  a  most  promising  field. 

"The  training  and  welfare  of  the  children  in  the  near  future  will 
mean  the  welfare  of  South  Boston  with  all  its  business  and  social 
interests. 

"  Business  men  can  give  advice  and  encouragement  that  will  prove 
invaluable  to  parents,  students,  and  pupils.  Such  advice  will  be 
welcomed,  especially  from  those  whom  the  pupils  and  parents  regard 
as  neighbors  and  friends  and  as  having  their  welfare  at  heart." 

TRAINING  FOR  REAL  WORK 
South  Boston  Wants  It  in  the  Schools 

At  a  well  attended  meeting  of  the  Trade  Association  of  South 
Boston,  held  last  evening  in  Bernice  Hall,  Broadway,  South  Boston,  a 
unanimous  indorsement  and  pledge  of  co-operation  was  given  to  the 
movement  to  advance  vocational  instruction  in  the  high  school  of 
South  Boston.  This  movement  was  started  by  the  Parents'  Associa- 
tion of  the  high  school  and  the  Trade  Association,  and  aims  at  helping 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  207 

in  every  possible  way  the  boys  and  girls  of  the  high  school  in  choosing 
their  future  occupation. 

The  report  of  a  subcommittee  of  the  Trade  Association  was  made 
by  James  Mahoney,  master  of  the  local  high  school,  and  remarks  were 
made  by  Mr.  Whall  of  the  Parents'  Association. 

For  the  Committee  on  Vocational  Training  appointed  at  the 
previous  meeting,  Mr.  Mahoney  reported  that  the  committee  had 
met  and  considered  "what  can  be  done  in  a  practical  way  to  advance 
the  interests  of  the  community  in  the  preparation  of  the  pupils  of 
the  schools  for  their  vocations  in  life  that  may  seem  best  suited  for 
them." 

He  read  a  letter  that  had  been  drawn  up  by  the  committee  and  will 
be  sent  to  business  and  commercial  houses  throughout  South  Boston 
and  many  large  establishments  of  the  city. 

This  letter  first  explains  the  objects  of  the  Trade  Association 
regarding  vocational  direction,  asking  the  co-operation  of  all  business 
firms  in  making  recommendations  in  writing  regarding  what  is  neces- 
sary for  the  proper  equipment  of  boys  and  girls  for  business  life,  urging 
that  suggestions  be  made,  regarding  what  has  generally  been  observed 
as  the  failings  of  boys  and  girls  who  enter  such  employment,  whereby 
the  schools  may  better  train  them  for  their  future  work. 


EGYPT  EXPLORATION  FUND 
Rev.  W.  C.  Winslow 
Boston 

525  BEACON  STREET, 

June  20,  1895. 

Mr.  James  Mahoney,  B.  A.,  M.  A.,  prominent  in  educational 
matters  in  Boston,  interested  in  art  and  its  history,  is  about  to  pass  a 
year  for  study  in  Europe.  If  any  of  my  University  and  archaeological 
friends  will  kindly  greet  him  as  a  brother  in  the  Arts,  I  shall  be 
thankful,  and  they  will  find  him  a  scholar,  a  gentleman,  and  a  good 
fellow. 

Mr.  Mahoney  is  a  member  of  our  University  Club. 

WILLIAM  COPLEY  WINSLOW. 


208  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

MARYLAND  COUNCIL  OF  TEACHERS  OF  ENGLISH 

Willis  H.  Wilcox,  President 

Maryland  State  Normal  School 
Arthur  F.  Smith,  Vice-President 

Lonaconing  High  School 
Andrew  H.  Krug,  Secretary 

Baltimore  City  College 
Louise  W.  Linthicum,  Treasurer 

Annapolis  High  School. 

YORK  ROAD  AND  GITTINGS  AVE.,  BALTIMORE,  MD. 

December  26,  1914. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

Cosmos  Club,  Washington,  D.  C. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  understand  from  Dr.  Krub  of  the  City  College  that  you  would  be 
willing  to  attend  our  conference  on  oral  composition  on  the  evening 
of  January  15,  and  give  a  fifteen-minute  talk.  We  are  planning  a 
kind  of  symposium  on  the  subject.  I  am  enclosing  a  copy  of  our 
tentative  program. 

I  should  be  glad  to  have  you  begin  the  program  with  something  in 
the  nature  of  an  historical  sketch  of  the  development  of  the  subject. 
If  you  can  be  with  us,  kindly  let  me  know  so  that  your  name  will 
appear  on  our  printed  program. 

Yours  truly, 

W.  H.  WILCOX. 

[Extract  from  a  Worcester  Paper.] 

PROF.  JAMES  MAHONEY  SPEAKS  ON  TENNYSON'S  "IDYLLS  OF  THE 

KING  " 

Prof.  James  Mahoney,  Boston,  formerly  a  teacher  in  Worcester, 
addressed  the  Catholic  Woman's  Club,  last  night,  on  Tennyson's 
"Idylls  of  the  King."  The  literature  class,  under  the  direction  of 
Rev.  Dr.  John  J.  McCoy,  has  studied  the  poems.  There  was  a  large 
attendance. 

Prof.  Mahoney  said:  "I  shall  consider  that  I  am  simply  reciting 
in  Dr.  McCoy's  literature  class.  I  have  given  a  little  study  to  the 
Arthurian  cycle,  and  I  shall  ramble  on,  hoping  that  you  will  interrupt 
with  questions  if  you  desire. 

"As  a  boy  of  ten  or  eleven,  I  began  to  read  the  'Idylls'  and  I  fell 
in  love  with  them.  Their  meaning  gradually  began  to  work  through 
my  mind.  Certain  conclusions  I  drew.  Recently  I  was  gratified  to 
find,  looking  through  certain  books,  that  others  had  drawn  the  same 
conclusions. 

"One  thing  is  clear,  the  Arthurian  cycle  is  Celtic  and  Catholic, 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  209 

therefore  human.  This  old  cycle  is  Celtic  to  the  core,  is  essentially 
Catholic,  and  is,  therefore,  broadly  human  and  not  narrow. 

"There  is  a  tendency  to  think  that  no  literature,  unless  it  be  Anglo- 
Saxon,  is  worth  much.  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  which  is  not 
any  too  greatly  in  favor  of  Celtic  and  Catholic  things,  makes  the 
statement  that  the  cycle  has  had  an  effect  second  to  almost  no  other 
literary  work. 

"Thomas  Mallory's  'Morte  d'Arthur,'  is  a  source  of  the  cycle. 
The  poems  in  the  'Idylls'  are  Tennyson's  greatest  poems,  the  cycle 
his  greatest  work. 

"Its  influence  spread  through  France  and  Germany.  Milton 
himself  planned  to  write  a  poem  on  the  Arthurian  cycle.  Tennyson 
developed  these  thoughts  in  their  modern  form.  The  poems  are 
twelve,  as  you  know.  They  are  miniatures  of  life. 

"The  first  thought  of  Tennyson  is  to  present  human  life  as  it  is, 
real  life,  its  concrete  facts. 

"Beyond  that,  there  is  an  interpretation  that  is,  in  the  main, 
Catholic,  and  beyond  that  a  symbolism." 

[Extract  from  a  Worcester  Daily  Paper.] 

PROFESSOR  MAHONEY  SPEAKS 
Boston  Teacher  Gives  Address  Before  Catholic  Woman's  Club 

A  large  audience  greeted  Prof.  James  Mahoney,  supervisor  of 
English  in  the  South  Boston  High  School,  last  night,  in  Academy 
Hall  of  the  Sacred  Heart  Academy,  when  he  gave  a  lecture  on  "  The 
Influence  of  the  Catholic  Church  on  English  Literature,"  before  the 
members  of  the  Catholic  Woman's  Club. 

Prof.  Mahoney  is  considered  one  of  the  foremost  classical  scholars 
and  high  school  teachers,  and  was  formerly  a  teacher  in  our  classical 
high  school,  where  he  taught  from  1884-1887. 

After  leaving  Worcester  Prof.  Mahoney  took  a  year's  course  in 
pedagogy  in  Johns  Hopkins  University,  and  for  twenty-two  years 
taught  the  various  branches  in  the  English  High  School  of  Boston. 

He  is  versed  in  many  languages.  He  passed  one  year  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Berlin,  and  two  years  ago  passed  the  bar  examination  of 
Massachusetts. 

Prof.  Mahoney  received  a  warm  welcome  to  Worcester  last  night 
and  there  were  many  in  the  audience  who  remembered  him  as  a 
teacher  in  the  Worcester  High  School.  He  was  introduced  by  Rev. 
Dr.  John  J.  McCoy,  founder  of  the  club. 

Prof.  Mahoney  demonstrated  that  the  Catholic  Church  has  had  an 
influence  upon  English  literature  from  the  earliest  ages  and,  to  illus- 
trate this  fact,  read  passages  from  some  of  the  works  of  the  writers. 

15 


210  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

He  said  that  the  first  works  of  prose  or  poetry  were  written  by  clergy, 
as  in  those  days  they  were  the  only  men  of  letters. 

He  said  that  the  seven  deadly  sins  played  a  prominent  part  in  the 
early  literature  and  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church  were 
touched  upon  in  all  the  great  works  in  all  ages.  He  followed  down 
the  line  of  writers  of  prose  and  poetry  to  the  present  day,  analyzing 
their  works  to  prove  that  they  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Catholic 
Church. 


[Extract  from  The  Charlesiown  Enterprise.] 

DEBATERS  KILL  DEATH  PENALTY 

Capital  Punishment  Should  Be  Abolished,  so  Find  Judges  at 
Debate  at  Charlestown  Catholic  Union 

With  the  Hon.  Joseph  H.  O'Neil,  chairman,  James  J.  Storrow  of 
the  Boston  School  Board,  and  Prof.  James  Mahoney  as  judges,  the 
pros  and  cons  of  capital  punishment  were  debated  last  evening  at 
the  Charlestown  Catholic  Literary  Union  by  four  young  members 
before  a  large  audience. 

The  decision  was  unanimously  in  favor  of  the  negative. 


[Extract  from  the  South  Boston  Gazette,  March  29,  1909.] 

The  pupils  of  the  English  classes  of  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  who  is  in 
charge  of  the  English  department  of  the  local  high  school,  have  had 
several  interesting  debates  this  year.  These  debates  are  very 
interesting  and  are  valuable  to  the  students.  Mr.  Mahoney  inaugu- 
rated them  into  the  local  high  school  and  they  have  proven  very 
successful. 

October  22,  1910. 

On  Friday  of  this  week,  during  the  home  room  hour  in  the  local 
high  school,  as  many  classes  of  the  school  as  could  be  assembled  were 
called  to  the  Assembly  Hall.  The  other  classes  held  commemoration 
exercises  in  their  own  rooms.  In  the  hall  Mrs.  Edwin  D.  Mead  and 
Mr.  James  Mahoney,  head  of  the  English  department,  spoke  fittingly 
of  Mrs.  Howe's  life  and  character. 

PARENTS'  ASSOCIATION  OF  LAWRENCE  SCHOOL 

At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Parents'  Association  of  the  Lawrence 
school,  held  last  Monday  evening,  Dr.  Herbert  J.  Keenan,  president, 
presiding,  there  was  a  splendid  and  instructive  address  by  James 
Mahoney  of  the  local  high  school.  His  subject  was  "Vocational 
Training  and  Vocational  Direction." 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  211 

1908. 
[Extracts  from  a  Local  Paper.] 

AT  THE  SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH 
Four-Act  Play,  "  The  Spy  of  Dorchester  Heights,"  Given  by  Class 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  South  Boston  High  School  a 
theatrical  performance  took  place  in  the  graduation  exercises  last 
night.  A  four-act  play,  entitled  "The  Spy  of  Dorchester  Heights," 
was  substituted  for  the  customary  valedictory,  salutatory,  class 
prophecy  and  oration. 

The  production  was  written  by  members  of  the  class  of  1908,  and 
the  characters  were  impersonated  by  members  of  the  graduating  class. 

During  the  performance,  "Dorchester  Heights,"  a  song  written  for 
the  occasion  by  James  Mahoney,  was  sung  by  Miss  Mary  L.  Keys. 

The  scene  of  the  play  was  laid  on  Dorchester  Heights  during  the 
trying  times  of  March,  1776.  It  is  based  on  the  capture  of  Dorchester 
Heights  and  the  evacuation  of  Boston  by  the  British.  The  characters 
are  all  historical.  The  play  was  presented  with  historical  costumes 
and  scenery  all  complete. 

The  preparations  for  the  play  meant  a  great  deal  of  hard  work. 
Mr.  Mahoney  gave  a  great  deal  of  his  time  to  the  work. 

1909. 

The  historic  play  which  was  presented  at  the  local  high  school 
Wednesday  proved  to  be  very  successful.  The  participants  were 
warmly  applauded  for  the  manner  in  which  they  carried  off  their 
parts.  The  success  of  the  play,  however,  was  due  to  the  efforts  and 
assistance  of  the  teacher  who  directed  the  performance,  Mr.  James 
Mahoney,  head  of  the  English  department  of  the  high  school. 

Mr.  Mahoney  spared  neither  time  nor  money  in  making  the  play 
a  success.  Nearly  all  the  rehearsals  were  held  outside  of  school  hours. 
The  play  presented  was  "King  Lear." 

1910. 

With  an  audience  that  completely  filled  every  inch  of  space  in  the 
local  high  school  hall,  a  program  of  unusual  excellence  provided  an 
evening  of  unusual  happiness  for  many  hundred  people. 

The  program  opened  with  a  march,  followed  by  a  chorus.  Then 
there  were  original  theses,  discussion  and  class  song,  which  was  pre- 
pared and  presented  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  James  Mahoney,  head 
of  the  English  department. 

Mr.  James  Mahoney,  who  has  had  charge  of  the  English  department 
of  the  local  high  school  for  several  years  past,  will  again  have  charge 
of  that,  the  most  important  department  of  the  school. 


212  JAMES  MAHONEY   MEMORIAL 

July  10,  1910. 
PEACE  DREAM  Is  COMING  TRUE 

War  Rapidly  Declining  Declares  Mead — School  Peace  League  Hears 
Prominent  Men 

Miss  DRISCOLL  WINS  IN  ARBITRATION  DEBATE 

The  American  School  Peace  League  met  in  Jacob  Sleeper  Hall, 
Boston  University,  at  Boylston  and  Exeter  Streets,  this  morning,  in 
connection  with  the  National  Education  Association  convention. 
There  was  a  large  attendance. 

James  H.  Van  Sickle,  superintendent  of  the  schools  at  Baltimore 
and  president  of  the  league,  made  the  opening  address.  Edwin  D. 
Mead  of  Boston  followed. 

A  debate  on  arbitration  by  six  pupils  of  the  South  Boston  High 
School  was  a  novel  feature  of  the  meeting. 

"Resolved,  That  All  International  Disputes  Should  Be  Settled  by 
Arbitration"  was  the  subject. 

James  Mahoney,  head  of  the  school's  English  department,  who  was 
in  charge,  explained  that  each  pupil  had  been  hampered  by  lack  of 
time  in  which  to  prepare  his  arguments.  The  debating,  in  spite  of 
this  handicap,  proved  praiseworthy.  Each  speaker  gave  arguments 
frequently  advanced  for  and  against  arbitration,  concluding  with  their 
own  answers  to  their  opponents. 

The  assembly  listened  attentively  to  the  six  pupils,  and  when  they 
concluded  many  words  of  praise  were  expressed  for  the  able  manner  in 
which  the  debate  was  carried  on. 

The  board  of  judges  was  composed  of  President  Jordan  of  Leland 
Stanford  University;  Rev.  Fr.  Gasson,  President  of  Boston  College; 
Professor  Dutton  of  Columbia  University;  Mr.  Edwin  Ginn  and 
Mr.  Henry  V.Cunningham  of  Boston.  Professor  Jordan  complimented 
the  debaters,  and  spoke  at  length  on  the  excellent  work  of  Miss  Dris- 
coll.  He  said  Miss  Bateman  deserved  special  mention  for  the  manner 
in  which  she  handled  the  subject. 

Elmer  E.  Brown,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  pre- 
sented the  beautifully  cut,  gold  medal  to  Miss  Driscoll.  The  medal 
was  given  by  the  Colonial  Daughters,  approved  by  President  Taft. 

Mr.  Mahoney  was  much  pleased  with  the  work  of  the  debaters,  as 
all  did  exceptionally  well. 

72  G  ST.,  SOUTH  BOSTON,  MASS. 

July  14,  1910. 

Mrs.  Andrews  has  asked  me  to  write  you  an  account  of  the  debate 
which  was  given  in  competition  for  the  Taft  Medal  for  excellence  in 
debate.  This  medal,  I  understand,  was  given  through  Mrs.  H.  Calvin 
Gage  as  President  of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Daughters,  and  I  under- 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  213 

stand  also  that  this  is  the  first  time  that  society  has  offered  a  medal  in 
this  way. 

Just  before  the  close  of  school,  in  June,  Mrs.  Andrews  asked  me 
whether  I  cared  to  make  suggestions  in  regard  to  the  conference  of  the 
American  School  Peace  League.  I  suggested  a  debate  by  school 
children.  She  answered  that  it  was  very  late  in  the  season  to  under- 
take a  debate.  I  said  that  this  was  certainly  so,  but  that  I  thought 
some  of  the  pupils  in  my  classes  at  the  South  Boston  High  School 
would  be  able  to  do  it.  So  she  told  me  by  all  means  to  go  ahead  and 
try.  Because  of  the  fact  that  there  was  so  little  time  I  relied  upon 
my  own  judgment  of  the  students  in  selecting  the  contestants,  instead 
of  having  a  preliminary  debate  to  decide  the  matter.  I  selected 
Ruby  W.  Bateman,  Regina  I.  Driscoll,  Marie  Lamb,  John  F.  Conley, 
Jacob  S.  London  and  Edward  L.  Sullivan.  I  selected  these  students 
with  some  misgiving,  for  the  young  ladies  had  worked  very  hard 
during  the  school  year,  and  the  boys  have  to  spend  most  of  their  time 
earning  their  living.  However,  the  young  ladies  worked  faithfully 
for  the  two  weeks  at  their  disposal,  and  the  young  men  had  to  make 
their  preparation  the  last  three  or  four  days  before  the  debate.  I 
feared  that  some  of  the  pupils  would  break  down  because  of  this 
added  work,  and  the  great  heat,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  none  of  them 
seemed  to  suffer  especially  on  this  account. 

The  American  Peace  Society  furnished  us  with  a  large  number  of 
pamphlets  on  the  subject  of  arbitration,  and  the  officials  of  the  Boston 
Public  Library  deposited  with  me,  for  the  use  of  these  students,  a 
large  number  of  books  on  the  history  of  arbitration,  accounts  of 
conferences,  treaties  and  works  on  international  law.  The  debate 
was  held  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  July  8,  in  Jacob  Sleeper  Hall. 
The  room  was  filled,  there  being  present,  I  should  judge,  about  six 
hundred  people.  The  meeting  was  opened  by  President  Van  Sickle 
of  Baltimore.  He  was  followed  by  Mr.  Edwin  D.  Mead,  who  spoke 
at  some  length  on  the  general  subject  of  arbitration.  Professor 
Claxton  of  Tennessee  was  to  have  been  called  next,  but,  as  he  was  not 
present,  the  debate  was  the  next  number  on  the  program.  It  lasted 
from  ten  minutes  past  ten  to  ten  minutes  past  eleven  o'clock,  each 
debater  being  allowed  ten  minutes  in  which  to  present  the  affirmative, 
the  negative,  and  a  refutation  of  the  negative,  of  the  question: 
"Resolved,  That  All  International  Disputes  Should  Be  Settled  by 
Arbitration." 

This  form  of  debate  was  adopted,  first,  because  the  students  would 
all  have  exactly  the  same  opportunity,  and,  secondly,  the  occasion 
being  a  Peace  Conference  it  would  seem  somewhat  ungracious  to  have 
two  teams,  one  defending  arbitration,  and  the  other  defending  war. 
And,  thirdly,  because  each  of  the  debaters  is  a  sincere  advocate  of 
arbitration.  At  the  close  of  the  debate,  President  Jordan  of  Leland 


214  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Stanford  University,  speaking  for  the  other  judges  (President  Gasson 
of  Boston  College,  Professor  Dutton  of  Columbia,  Mr.  Edwin  Ginn 
of  Boston,  and  Mr.  Henry  V.  Cunningham  of  Boston),  said:  "The 
judges  agree,  first,  that  this  debate  has  been  very  excellent.  Sec- 
ondly, they  all  agree  that  Miss  Driscoll  deserves  the  medal,  and  also 
that  Miss  Bateman  deserves  honorable  mention  for  her  especially 
fine  debate.  Then  Mr.  Elmer  E.  Brown,  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  presented  the  medal  to  Miss  Driscoll.  He  spoke 
of  the  great  beauty  of  the  medal,  and  the  high  honor  which  was 
implied  in  its  gift  by  your  society,  and  bearing  the  name  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  He  trusted  that  not  merely  the 
rare  excellence  of  the  medal,  nor  the  honor  even,  would  constitute 
to  the  young  lady  the  highest  value  of  the  prize,  but  that  it  would 
be  to  her  an  inspiration  for  future  endeavor  in  so  good  a  cause. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 


BOSTON  HOME  AND  SCHOOL  ASSOCIATION 

Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  President  Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr.,  Treasurer 

Charles  F.  Dole,  Vice-President  Fannie  Fern  Andrews,  Secretary 

405  MARLBORO  ST.,  BOSTON, 
January  9,  1909. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY, 

72  G  St.,  South  Boston. 
My  dear  Mr.  Mahoney: 

The  Executive  Board  of  the  Boston  Home  and  School  Association, 
holding  its  meeting  yesterday,  wishes  me  to  thank  you  for  your 
interest  in  the  Committee  on  School  Decoration.  I  should  be  very 
glad,  indeed,  if  you  would  select  the  members  of  your  committee  as 
you  think  best,  and  when  you  have  done  so,  will  you  please  forward 
the  list  to  me?  As  to  the  work  which  your  committee  will  undertake, 
I  am  sure  that  your  judgment  will  be  most  effective. 

Recalling  our  telephone  conversation,  I  remember  you  spoke  of  the 
meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Public  School  Art  League. 
Probably  you  will  talk  this  over  with  the  members  of  that  body, 
before  you  lay  out  work  for  the  Home  and  School  Committee.  At 
any  rate,  I  feel  sure  that  the  matter  rests  safely  in  your  hands. 

After  you  have  talked  this  matter  over  with  your  Executive  Com- 
mittee, perhaps  we  might  meet  and  consider  work  which  might  be 
done  in  connection  with  the  Home  and  School  Association. 
With  kind  regards,  I  am, 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

FANNIE  FERN  ANDREWS, 
Secretary,  Boston  Home  and  School  Association. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  215 

AN  APPRECIATION  or  JAMES  MAHONEY 

I  deem  it  a  distinctive  privilege  to  have  been  associated  with  James 
Mahoney.  As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  School  Decoration 
of  the  Boston  Home  and  School  Association,  he  brought  to  that 
organization  a  clear  vision  of  its  functions  as  a  civic  factor,  and 
through  his  devoted  efforts  much  was  done  toward  the  realization  of 
his  high  aim  to  stimulate  interest  in  artistic  and  significant  school 
decoration.  His  splendid  ability  for  co-operation,  not  only  with  the 
officers  and  committees  of  the  association,  but  with  other  influential 
bodies  having  similar  aims,  rendered  him  an  invaluable  member  of 
the  association. 

His  conception  of  the  socialization  of  the  school  plant  and  the 
specific  relation  of  the  home  to  the  school  indicated  a  broad  under- 
standing of  modern  educational  philosophy.  A  breadth  of  vision, 
combined  with  an  intellectual  grasp  attained  only  through  high  rank 
in  scholarly  achievements,  characterized  his  teaching  and  his  many 
labors  outside  the  schoolroom.  It  was  a  loss  to  the  Boston  School 
system  when  Mr.  Mahoney  severed  his  connection. 

FANNIE  FERN  ANDREWS, 
President,  Boston  Home  and  School  Association. 
405  MARLBORO  ST.,  BOSTON. 
October  3,  1916. 

[Extract  from  The  Boston  Home  and  School  News  Letter,  Vol.  IV,  No.   I,   Boston, 
Mass.,  November,  1912.] 

WHAT  MAY  BE  DONE  TOWARD  SCHOOL  DECORATION  BY 
CO-OPERATION  OF  PARENTS'  ASSOCIATION 

SOUTH  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
November  2,  1912. 

Mrs.  Irving  enquires  what  the  Public  School  Art  League  could 
accomplish  if  aided  by  the  co-operation  of  the  various  societies  of  the 
Home  and  School  Association. 

My  personal  opinion  is  that  it  could  accomplish  a  great  deal  more 
than  it  has  in  the  past,  provided  that  the  assistance  is  given  with 
patience,  persistence  and  true  insight.  The  task  is  not  primarily 
executive.  To  bring  reproductions  of  the  great  masterpieces  of  art 
to  the  school  children,  particularly  to  those  who  have  least  opportu- 
nity to  see  them,  is  the  first  object  of  the  Art  League. 

This  requires  great  knowledge  of  art,  good  taste,  good  sense,  a 
considerable  amount  of  money,  and  some  manual  labor.  The  Art 
League  has  been  fortunate  in  having  some  of  those  who  are  best 
qualified  in  matters  of  art  to  guide  its  work;  it  will  be  more  fortunate 
in  the  future  if  it  can  continue  to  receive  such  guidance.  The  various 
societies  could,  I  think,  greatly  help  in  these  ways: 


216  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

(a)  By  means  of  lectures  to  get  the  parents,  teachers  and  the  general 
public  to  appreciate  the  objects  of  the  league; 

(b)  To  further  the  same  object  by  reports  to  the  press,  encouraging 
such  work; 

(c)  To  help  raise  a  general  fund  which  would  put  the  work  of  the 
league  on  a  permanent  basis; 

(d)  By  explaining  to  persons  contemplating  the  doing  of  such  work, 
the  peculiarly  difficult  nature  of  the  task,  and  urging  the  guidance  of 
an  organization  like  the  Art  League  be  secured. 

This  would  help  to  safeguard  us  from  artistic  crudities;  would  make 
our  schoolrooms  more  attractive  places  for  the  children;  would 
stimulate  the  imagination,  and  help  to  produce  a  nobler  people. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 

EDUCATIONAL   COURSE— CATHOLIC   LITERARY   UNION 

JAMES  MAHONEY,  Director.        1909-1914 

"The  secret  of  success  is  constancy  to  purpose." 

— Disraeli. 

The  Catholic  Literary  Union  School  was  first  started  in  the  fall  of 
1909  with  two  instructors.  The  next  year  three  instructors  were 
necessary. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  the  class  in  advanced  bookkeeping  requested 
and  obtained  an  additional  summer  course  in  their  special  course. 

For  the  first  two  years  membership  in  the  classes  was  restricted  to 
members  of  the  Union,  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  year  the 
educational  committee  voted  to  throw  open  the  classes,  free  of  charge, 
to  all  young  men  above  the  regular  school  age,  irrespective  of  member- 
ship in  the  Union. 

The  third  year  showed  greater  progress  in  number  of  instructors,  in 
courses  offered,  in  number  of  students  attending  as  well  as  in  the  num- 
ber of  those  who  received  honors  in  their  work,  and  above  all  the  high 
standard  of  instruction  was  maintained. 

This  excellent  and  progressive  work  at  the  Catholic  Literary  Union 
School  has  borne  good  fruit,  not  only  for  Charlestown,  but  in  every 
section  of  the  Metropolitan  district. 

Similar  movements,  it  is  stated,  have  been  started  elsewhere. 

October  29,  1910. 
PROFESSOR  MAHONEY  WILL  ASSIST 

Witt  Teach  English  on  Friday  Evenings  in  the  Union  Educational 
Courses 

Notable  interest  and  activity  prevails  at  the  classrooms  of  the 
educational  department  of  the  Literary  Union,  the  classes  being  well 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  217 

organized  and  the  courses  now  fully  inaugurated  with  every  assurance 
of  increased  success  for  the  school  during  the  present  term. 

Professor  Mahoney  of  the  English  High  School  is  to  give  an  evening 
in  English  to  the  pupils,  beginning  his  work  last  evening. 

November  5,  1910. 
NEXT  FRIDAY'S  DEBATE 

Professor  James  Mahoney  gave  a  delightfully  informal  talk  at  the 
Literary  Union  on  Friday  evening  of  last  week.  The  purpose  of  the 
meeting  was  to  inaugurate  a  debating  class.  Edwin  M.  Hawkins  and 
Frank  Ahearn  were  elected  as  captains,  respectively,  on  the  affirma- 
tive and  negative  sides  of  the  question,  "Resolved,  That  the  United 
States  Government  Should  Subsidize  a  Line  of  Steamers  to  South 
American  Ports  on  the  Atlantic  Coast." 

[Extracts  from  the  Charlestown  Enterprise,  Saturday,  October  14,  1911.] 

No  project  in  the  interest  of  the  young  men  of  the  district  launched 
in  recent  years  seems  to  have  met  the  general  public  accord  as  satis- 
factorily as  the  educational  course  established  a  year  ago  by  the 
Catholic  Literary  Union  and  now  entering  upon  its  second  term. 

The  hearty  local  interest  in  the  good  work  was  especially  evident 
in  the  large  attendance  and  the  enthusiasm  at  the  opening  of  the  course 
on  Saturday  evening.  The  parlors  of  the  Union  club-house  were 
filled  to  the  doors,  and  the  array  of  fine  speakers  received  a  cordial 
reception  and  a  very  attentive  consideration  of  their  words  of  advice 
and  encouragement.  It  was  a  big  night  for  the  Union  and  a  bigger 
one  for  the  local  cause  of  education. 

President  Michael  L.  Fahey  made  a  felicitous  address  in  opening  the 
meeting,  and  pleasantly  introduced  Dr.  John  F.  O'Brien,  chairman  of 
the  educational  committee.  The  latter  spoke  glowingly  on  the  prog- 
ress of  the  work  and  the  accomplishments  of  the  last  two  winters, 
preceding  his  remarks  by  reading  the  following  letter  from  Arch- 
bishop O'Connell,  approving  the  work  of  the  Union  along  educational 
lines : 

DR.  JOHN  F.  O'BRIEN, 

Chairman,  Catholic  Literary  Union  of  Charlestown,  Mass. 
Dear  Dr.  O'Brien: 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  October  6th,  together  with  the  pro- 
spectus of  the  work  the  Catholic  Literary  Union  of  Charlestown  pro- 
poses to  do  for  its  members.  I  am  exceedingly  happy  to  note  the  fact 
that  a  large  body  of  splendid  wide-awake  Catholic  young  men  are 
devoting  themselves  during  their  leisure  hours  to  obtaining  useful  and 
necessary  knowledge,  whereby  they  may  the  better  perform  their 


218  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

daily  duties  and  bring  more  honor  upon  themselves  and  upon  the 
Church  to  which  they  belong,  and  as  members  of  which  they  are 
constantly  regarded  by  the  world  about  them. 

You  must  all  keep  constantly  before  your  minds'  eyes  that  you  are 
members  not  only  of  a  literary  union,  but  of  a  Catholic  literary  union, 
and  that  you  should  be  imbued  with  the  principles  of  your  faith  in 
your  work  during  leisure  hours  and  during  the  tasks  set  each  one  of 
you  in  your  respective  daily  walks  of  life. 

I  send  you  my  hearty  best  wishes  and  I  assure  you  of  my  constant 
affectionate  interest  in  yourselves  and  your  work,  and  I  send  my 
blessing  upon  you  all. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

W.   H.    O'CONNELL, 

Archbishop  of  Boston. 

ARCHBISHOP'S  HOUSE,  GRANBY  STREET,  BOSTON. 
October  7,  1911. 


Professor  Mahoney  of  the  educational  committee  outlined  the 
studies  for  the  classes  beginning  Monday  under  a  highly  competent 
corps  of  teachers. 

[Extracts  from  the  Charleslown  Enterprise,  Saturday,  October  14,  1911.] 

An  auspicious  opening  of  the  second  term  of  the  Catholic  Literary 
Union  educational  course  is  assured  for  this  evening,  when  at  the 
Union  club-house,  Monument  Square,  an  array  of  brilliant  lights  in  the 
oratorical  world — all  men  of  standing  in  the  professions  and  in  busi- 
ness— will  speak  to  the  members  and  friends  upon  matters  of  educa- 
tion and  of  work  for  young  men. 

Judge  Hugo  Dubuque,  of  Fall  River,  comes  direct  from  Rhode 
Island,  today  to  be  present  at  the  opening  of  the  educational  course 
and  will  be  the  first  speaker. 

The  educational  committee  offers  a  decidedly  practical  line  of 
courses,  and  hopes  the  members  of  the  Union  will  not  only  join  them- 
selves but  will  induce  their  friends  to  take  advantage  of  the  splendid 
opportunities. 

[Extract  from  the  Charlestown  Enterprise,  October  26,  1912.] 

All  was  bustle  and  activity  at  the  Literary  Union  club-house  on 
Friday  evening  last  at  the  formal  opening  of  the  evening  classes, 
when  students  and  friends  gathered  for  the  first  event  in  the  program 
of  the  winter  activities. 

Professor  Mahoney,  as  supervisor  of  the  school,  announced  the 
program  of  the  studies  and  in  stirring  words  urged  the  boys  not  to  lag 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  219 

in  their  efforts  during  the  coming  winter.  The  conditions  under 
which  they  are  to  study  are  ideal  ones,  and  the  instructors  are  notable 
in  educational  circles  as  being  unexcelled,  each  in  his  particular  line. 

[Charlestown  Enterprise,  October  4,  1913.] 

BUSINESS  METHOD  PROPER  TRAINING 

James  J.  Phelan,  the  vice-president  of  the  Union,  very  generously 
volunteers  to  continue  his  important  part  in  the  work,  Professor 
Mahoney  will  continue  to  serve  as  the  supervisor  of  the  school  and 
Dr.  John  F.  O'Brien  is  to  remain  at  the  head  of  the  educational  com- 
mittee. President  Joseph  E.  Donovan  and  his  colleagues  in  the 
board  of  government  are  giving  their  hearty  co-operation  and  lending 
valuable  assistance  in  the  inauguration  of  the  school  session,  and  its 
continuance  during  the  coming  winter. 

Non  members,  as  well  as  members  and  their  friends,  will  be  made 
welcome,  for  it  is  the  wish  of  the  officials  in  charge  that  the  benefits  to 
be  derived  from  such  courses  may  be  distributed  among  those  eager 
for  an  education.  No  fee  will  be  charged,  and  all  that  is  required  is 
faithful  attendance  during  the  season. 

The  curriculum  will  embrace  studies  along  civil  service  lines,  book- 
keeping, shorthand,  accounting,  etc.,  with  lectures  by  leading  business 
and  professional  men  on  business  and  similar  topics,  while  debates 
have  been  arranged  and  courses  in  physical  training  are  also  to  be  a 
feature.  Ladies  will  be  admitted  to  the  lectures. 

The  Union  course  plans  the  best  possible  training  for  business  and 
the  best  and  quickest  preparation  for  civil  service.  In  the  latter 
course  all  grades  of  civil  service  for  positions  with  city,  state  and 
nation  will  be  established,  the  unnecessary  things  left  out  and  the 
essentials  maintained.  Business  English,  letter  writing  and  business 
correspondence,  business  arithmetic,  commercial  geography,  three 
classes  in  bookkeeping  and  three  in  shorthand,  with  accounting 
and  auditing,  economics  and  business  law  are  among  the  solid  and 
attractive  features  that  any  ambitious  and  studiously  inclined  young 
man  must  feel  is  a  provision  for  education  he  cannot  well  resist, 
especially  when  the  opportunities  are  actually  thrown  his  way  and 
at  practically  no  personal  cost,  beyond  the  giving  of  time  and  effort 
on  his  part. 

The  Literary  Union  building  offers  especial  facilities  for  the  school, 
while  its  location  opposite  the  historic  Monument  in  a  most  desirable 
residential  section  of  the  district  and  convenient  to  every  part  of 
Charlestown  is  an  advantage  that  must  be  included  in  the  estimate 
given  of  the  desirable  features  and  opportunities  worth  while  when  a 
young  man  is  deciding  to  make  a  step  for  his  educational  benefit. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  while  members  of  the  Literary 


220  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Union  are  taking  these  courses,  there  is  plenty  of  room  for  outsiders 
and  because  a  young  man  may  have  no  affiliation  with  the  Union  it 
does  not  debar  him  from  enrollment  in  the  classes.  On  the  contrary, 
the  educational  committee  extends  a  welcome  to  all  self-respecting 
young  men  to  join  the  classes  regardless  of  the  fact  that  they  may 
or  may  not  be  members  of  the  Union. 

[Extract  from  a  report  by  James  Mahoney,  October  5,  1913.] 

ANOTHER  BUSY  YEAR  AHEAD 

The  parent  of  Catholic  evening  schools  in  this  city  and  state,  the 
Catholic  Literary  Union  of  Charlestown,  is  preparing  with  renewed 
zeal  for  the  fifth  year  of  its  fall  and  winter  educational  work.  For  the 
past  four  years  this  school  at  5  Monument  Square  has  steadily  pro- 
gressed in  numbers  and  in  courses  of  study,  but  the  prospects  for  the 
current  term  are  brighter  than  ever.  The  school  is  free  to  all  who  are 
desirous  of  obtaining  an  education  which  will  fit  them  for  better  posi- 
tions in  the  business  world. 

The  "fads"  and  "fancies"  have  never  affected  the  classes  in  the 
institution.  Practical  training  for  definite  objects  has  been  steadily 
maintained  and  a  most  thorough  training  by  the  most  competent 
teachers  has  been  always  insisted  upon.  There  are  alluring  subjects 
which  the  Union  might  have  presented,  but  its  watchword  has  been : 
"A  few  essential  things  thoroughly  done,  rather  than  many  things 
attempted." 

Lectures  on  important  business  topics  by  leading  business  men  will 
be  a  more  prominent  feature  of  the  school  this  year. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 

[An  extract  from  the  Charlestown  Enterprise.] 

An  auspicious  opening  of  the  Sunday  afternoon  lecture  course  at  the 
Literary  Union  introduced,  as  the  first  speaker,  Professor  James 
Mahoney  of  the  educational  classes  at  the  Union  in  a  masterly  address 
on  "  Business  versus  Socialism  and  Anarchism. "  The  speaker  had  an 
audience  of  bright  young  minds  to  appreciate  his  well  conceived  and 
finely  presented  views  on  this  subject  of  vital  importance. 

For  two  hours  Mr.  Mahoney  talked  to  the  deeply  interested 
audience. 

[Extract  from  James  Mahoney's  report,  1912-1913.] 
UNUSUAL  REGISTRATION  AT  THE  CATHOLIC  LITERARY  UNION 

With  a  preliminary  registration  of  two  hundred,  and  with  a  constant 
increase  by  new  registration  in  prospect,  each  night  this  week,  the 
walls  of  the  old  Union  will  be  tested  to  the  uttermost.  Perhaps  you 
may  think  that  the  students  are  just  boys;  but  such  is  not  the  case. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  221 

Nearly  forty-two  per  cent  are  over  twenty  years  of  age,  sixteen  per 
cent  are  twenty-five  years  or  older,  and  several  are  nearly  forty-five 
years  old. 

It  is  very  clear  that  the  Literary  Union  has  won  the  confidence  of 
the  people  of  Charlestown. 

Dr.  John  F.  O'Brien,  Chairman  of  the  Educational  Committee, 
presided,  and  introduced  Mr.  J.  Randolph  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Acting 
President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Past  President  of  the 
Boston  Society  of  Architects,  who  gave  the  first  lecture  of  the  eco- 
nomic series,  which  is  being  arranged  by  a  committee  consisting  of 
Mr.  James  J.  Phelan,  the  donor  of  the  courses,  and  Mr.  James 
Mahoney,  the  Principal  of  the  School. 

[Extract  from  an  article  in  The  Pilot,  October  11,  1913.] 

The  Catholic  Literary  Union  is  the  parent  of  the  Catholic  evening 
schools  in  Massachusetts.  For  four  years  it  has  successfully  con- 
ducted a  series  of  classes,  which  were  marked  by  large  attendance. 
It  has  steadily  kept  in  mind  the  idea  of  giving  practical  and  thorough 
training  for  definite  objects  by  competent  teachers.  As  a  consequence 
very  gratifying  results  have  been  achieved.  The  prospects  of  the 
school  for  the  coming  year  are  brighter  than  ever  before. 

[Charlestoum  Enterprise,  March  29,  1913.] 

BISHOP  ANDERSON  GUEST  AT  UNION 

Comes  to  Closing  Exercises  by  Invitation  of  James  J.  Phelan — Educa- 
tional Work  Praised — Certificate  Awards  to  Students  in  the  Various 
Departmental-Preparations  for  the  Fall  Reopening 

General  interest  in  the  work  of  the  educational  classes  at  the  Liter- 
ary Union  was  demonstrated  by  a  large  attendance  at  the  closing 
exercises  on  Thursday  evening. 

The  parlors  contained  many  representative  men  of  the  district, 
most  of  whom  are  members  of  the  Union,  and  there  was  an  array  of 
speakers  whose  remarks  carried  effectively  in  the  general  estimate 
of  this  splendid  work  in  which  the  Union  for  several  years  has  been 
engaged. 

As  chairman  of  the  course,  Dr.  John  F.  O'Brien  introduced  the 
speakers  in  a  most  felicitous  manner,  and  the  following  distinguished 
members  of  the  clergy  and  laity  gave  enthusiastic  commendation  to 
the  Union  and  its  labors. 

Right  Rev.  Joseph  G.  Anderson,  D.  D.,  bishop  of  Boston,  Rev. 
P.  F.  Cusick,  S.  J.,  Rev.  John  W.  McMahon,  D.  D.,  Rev.  James  N. 
Supple,  Rev.  T.  F.  Leyden,  Congressman  William  F.  Murray  and 
Professor  James  Mahoney. 


222  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

The  classes  complete  the  term  with  a  wonderfully  fine  record  for 
progress. 

Professor  James  Mahoney,  director  of  the  school,  hi  his  report  very 
pertinently  says: 

"We  are  sometimes  told  that  it  is  difficult  for  business  men  nowa- 
days to  obtain  able  and  reliable  employees;  we,  therefore,  earnestly 
desire  to  call  the  attention  of  business  men  to  the  names  of  our  stu- 
dents, whose  ability,  proficiency  and  good  character  are  amply 
vouched  for/' 


[Charlestown  Enterprise,  March  28,  1914.] 

GOVERNOR  WALSH  WAS  AT  His  BEST 

Came  Early  and  Stayed  Late  at  the  Literary  Union  Graduation — 
Notable  Company  Attended — Splendid  Results  Achieved  by  the 
Pupils  During  the  Most  Successful  Season  of  the  Evening  School 

The  closing  exercises  of  the  evening  educational  courses  at  the 
Catholic  Literary  Union,  on  Wednesday,  were  honored  with  the 
presence  of  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  and  the  remarks  of 
His  Excellency  showed  that  he  was  highly  gratified  and  deeply  moved 
at  the  splendid  showing  made  by  the  pupils. 

Preceding  the  Governor,  Professor  Mahoney,  the  director  of  the 
school,  made  an  interesting  and  instructive  analysis  of  the  work  done 
during  season  now  closing. 


[Extract  from  James  Mahoney 's  report.] 

The  attendance  this  year  has  been  considerably  greater  than  ever 
before;  five  hundred  came  to  us  the  opening  week. 

In  regard  to  attendance,  let  me  say  that  I  strictly  enjoined  the 
teachers  to  exclude  all  pupils  of  such  age  as  would  make  necessary 
their  attendance  at  the  public  schools.  Our  aim  has  not  been  to 
compete  with  other  schools  but  to  be  of  service  to  those  who  would  in 
any  case  not  attend  a  regular  school. 

The  average  age  of  our  pupils  has  been  considerably  higher  than 
ever  before.  \Ve  had  many  over  thirty,  and  a  considerable  number 
over  forty,  and  some  over  fifty  years  of  age.  The  average  age,  I 
estimate  at  about  twenty -seven. 

The  teachers  were  also  impressed  with  the  fact  that  our  students 
had  a  more  clearly  defined  purpose  and  were  more  in  earnest  than 
heretofore. 

While  giving  class  instruction,  it  was  the  aim  of  each  teacher  to  help 
each  individual  student  in  every  way  possible — and  this  attitude  of 
the  teachers  seems  to  have  been  appreciated. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  223 

[Extract  from  an  article  in  the  Boston  Sunday  Post,  April  5,  1914.] 

LITERARY  UNION  Is  PROSPERING 

In  the  long  history  of  the  accomplishments  of  the  Charlestown  Liter- 
ary Union,  an  association  which  holds  an  enviable  reputation  among 
organizations  of  its  kind  in  greater  Boston,  there  is  not  one  year  which 
stands  out  so  prominently,  especially  in  the  educational  department, 
as  the  season  just  finished. 

The  members  feel  that  this  department,  under  the  guidance  of 
Prof.  James  Mahoney,  Principal  of  the  Catholic  Literary  Union 
School,  has  done  a  wonderful  amount  of  good  for  those  scores  of  people 
whose  early  education  was  sadly  neglected. 

The  officers  of  the  Union  are  greatly  pleased  over  the  success  of  their 
school  and  will  plan  for  even  greater  efforts,  feeling  that  the  organiza- 
tion could  do  no  greater  good  for  humanity  than  in  helping  to  educate 
those  who  are  ambitious  to  learn  to  better  their  station  in  life. 

EXTRAORDINARY  REGISTRATION  AT  THE  CATHOLIC  LITERARY  UNION 
OF  CHARLESTOWN 

A  social  club  which  harbors  within  its  walls  a  vigorous  school  of  five 
hundred  students  is  naturally  the  subject  of  much  favorable  comment, 
and  many  questions  are  being  asked  about  the  school  and  about 
the  club  which  fosters  it.  The  Catholic  Literary  Union  is  situated  at 
5  Monument  Square,  Charlestown,  directly  opposite  the  Bunker  Hill 
Monument.  The  building  is  one  of  the  handsome  old  mansions  for 
which  the  Square  is  famous.  If  you  approach  the  building  any  Mon- 
day evening,  after  seven  o'clock,  you  will  be  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  it  is  the  destination  of  crowds  of  men,  young  and  old,  who  are 
hurrying  up  the  streets  which  converge  upon  the  Square.  The  spa- 
cious rooms  are  already  lighted,  and  the  large  parlor  on  the  first  floor 
is  already  packed  with  an  anxious  crowd  of  students,  every  seat  taken, 
a  mass  of  men  standing  front  and  rear  and  along  the  sides — the  door- 
way even  thronged,  and  a  group  of  students  in  the  hallway  outside, 
striving  to  catch  the  words  of  the  teacher  and  to  work  out  his  problems 
on  paper  held  in  their  hands.  This  is  the  huge  class  in  Civil  Service 
and  Business  Arithmetic. 

A  glance  into  the  rear  parlor  will  also  reveal  a  solidly  packed  room, 
a  class  in  Civil  Service  also. 

A  surprising  fact  will  impress  the  eye,  namely,  that  most  of  these 
pupils  are  mature  men — some  of  them  forty  or  fifty  years  of  age. 

Upstairs,  in  the  original  classroom,  is  a  large  class  in  Banking  and 
Finance. 

Tuesdays  and  Thursdays  in  the  parlor  likewise — the  best  that  the 
Union  has  to  offer — are  two  large  classes  in  Bookkeeping  and  Civil 
Service  Arithmetic.  Beginners  in  the  front  parlor,  and  intermediate 
pupils  in  the  rear. 


224  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Two  large  classes  with  individual  instruction  are  possible  at  the 
Union,  because  discipline  need  not  engage  the  attention  of  the 
instructor. 

Upstairs  in  the  original  classroom,  Tuesday  and  Thursday  even- 
ing, is  a  fine  class  in  Business  Arithmetic  and  Bookkeeping. 

In  Classroom  Number  Two,  Tuesdays  and  Thursdays,  is  a  class  of 
Charlestown  professional  and  business  men,  receiving  training  in 
Commercial  Spanish.  Also  on  these  evenings  is  a  class  in  Argumenta- 
tion and  Debates. 

On  Wednesday  evenings,  in  addition  to  the  classes  already  men- 
tioned, is  a  large  class  in  Shorthand. 

On  Friday  evenings  the  class  in  Accounting  and  Auditing  meets. 

On  Saturday  evenings  the  class  in  Argumentation  meets. 

The  Glee  Club  meets  on  Saturday  evenings,  also. 

Athletic  classes  from  the  Union  meet  in  the  new  city  Gymnasium  on 
Lexington  Street. 

Mr.  James  Mahoney  continues,  as  formerly,  to  serve  as  Principal  of 
the  School,  and  Dr.  John  F.  O'Brien  is  Chairman  of  the  Educational 
Committee. 

One  naturally  enquires  further  in  regard  to  the  club  which  is  en- 
gaged in  such  unusual  work.  The  history  of  the  Union  goes  well  back 
into  the  last  century,  having  been  founded  hi  1879.  At  that  time  the 
organization  was  known  as  the  Lyceum;  in  1885,  it  received  the  name 
of  the  St.  Francis  de  Sales  Total  Abstinence  and  Literary  Society. 

In  1893  it  was  reorganized  and  received  its  present  name.  Rev. 
James  N.  Supple  has  been  its  spiritual  director  from  the  beginning  in 
1879,  and  so  continues. 

The  society  has  numbered  among  its  members  and  officers  many  of 
the  leading  men  of  Charlestown  and  Boston,  and  every  year  on  the 
evening  of  the  16th  of  June  it  celebrates  the  anniversary  of  the  great 
battle  of  the  Revolution. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 

CATHOLIC  LITERARY  UNION,  CHARLESTOWN,  MASS., 

February  28,  1914. 

Mr.  James  Mahoney,  Head  of  the  English  Department  of  the 
South  Boston  High  School,  has  been  a  member  of  our  School  Board 
from  the  beginning  of  our  educational  work,  five  years  ago ;  and  for  the 
past  four  years  he  has  been  Principal  of  the  School,  in  active  charge 
and  with  full  responsibility. 

As  Principal,  he  has  drawn  up  the  course  of  study,  selected  and 
hired  the  teachers,  arranged  the  program,  secured  the  classes,  and 
guided  the  work.  The  course  of  study  in  our  judgment  is  thoroughly 
practical  and  sensible,  suited  to  the  demands  of  modern  business  and 
to  the  needs  of  our  young  men ;  our  teachers  are  recognized  as  among 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  225 

the  very  best  and  they  have  efficiently  carried  out  the  program,  work- 
ing harmoniously  and  cordially  with  the  Principal  and  with  each 
other. 

We  have  learned  by  experience  that  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  secure 
attendance  in  an  evening  school,  however  excellent  it  may  be,  on  the 
part  of  those,  we  mean,  who  are  not  provided  for  by  the  public  evening 
classes.  To  secure  attendance  in  our  classes,  Mr.  Mahoney  utilized 
all  the  possible  means  and  agencies  of  Charlestown — our  prominent 
men,  clubs,  societies,  in  fact,  the  active  support  of  the  District. 

While  our  Union  is  a  club,  and  lacks  the  ordinary  means  of  disci- 
pline which  belong  to  a  school,  there  has  been  hardly  an  instance  of 
disorder.  Mr.  Mahoney's  efficiency  in  dealing  with  the  students,  we 
believe,  has  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  bringing  about  this  result. 
The  teachers  all  testify  that  the  most  cordial  and  friendly  relations 
have  always  existed  between  them  and  their  pupils  here;  and  among 
evening  schools  our  percentage  of  attendance  has  been  relatively  high. 
The  highest  standard  of  work  has  been  maintained  from  the  begin- 
ning and  the  school  has  steadily  progressed  from  year  to  year,  in 
number  of  students,  of  classes  and  of  teachers;  and  many  splendidly 
trained  young  men  have  graduated  from  our  classes,  and  have  won 
promotion  because  of  the  training  given  them  here. 
Educational  Committee, 

JOHN  F.  O'BRIEN,  Chairman, 
JAMES  N.  SUPPLE, 
THOMAS  J.  GALLAGHER, 
ARTHUR  W.  DOLAN, 
JOHN  S.  FLANAGAN, 
JAMES  P.  MALONEY, 
WALTER  J.  PHELAN, 
JOHN  J.  FLYNN, 
JAMES  J.  PHELAN. 

The  members  of  the  Educational  Committee  have  each  received  a 
letter  from  James  Mahoney,  the  director  of  the  school,  portions  of 
which  follow: 

"I  thank  you  most  kindly  for  the  testimonial  which  I  have  just 
received  from  you.  I  have  been  associated  with  you  for  five  years, 
and  during  that  time  a  peculiarly  difficult  task  has  been  ours — the 
maintenance  of  an  evening  school  in  a  club,  and  that,  too,  during 
these  times  when  our  young  men  are  devoted  to  present  pleasure 
rather  than  to  sacrifice  for  future  gain.  That  it  has  been  possible  to 
keep  the  school  in  existence  and  to  secure  steady  progress  from  year  to 
year,  our  thanks  are  due  first  of  all  to  Mr.  Phelan,  who  conceived  the 
idea  of  the  school  and  whose  brain  and  purse  have  been  our  constant 


226  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

"You  will  join  me  also  in  a  tribute  to  our  chairman,  Dr.  O'Brien, 
whose  zeal,  good  sense  and  courtesy  have  been  of  incalculable  assist- 
ance. To  those  two  gentlemen,  my  own  thanks  are  especially  due  for 
the  constant  support  they  have  given  me,  and  for  the  steady  confidence 
that  they  have  reposed  in  me. 

"And  to  you  all,  gentlemen,  I  am  grateful  for  many  acts  of  courtesy 
and  kindness,  and  especially  for  this  present  act  of  yours. 

"While  we  have  not  accomplished  all  that  we  could  have  wished, 
I  believe  we  have  done  all  that  was  possible  under  the  circumstances; 
and  I  trust  that  from  our  endeavors  will  come  far  greater  things 
hereafter.'' 

Early  in  the  following  September  James  Mahoney  severed  his  con- 
nections with  the  Business  School  as  he  felt  that  it  would  be  unfair  to 
himself  to  again  undertake  the  active  management. 

BROOKLINE,  MASSACHUSETTS, 
July  12,  1916. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  know  Mr.  James  Mahoney  for  several 
years.  He  was  associated  with  me  in  a  work  in  which  we  were  both 
very  much  interested, — extending  the  education  of  some  of  the  young 
men  connected  with  the  Catholic  Literary  Union  of  Charlestown. 
This  work  went  on  for  several  years  entirely  under  the  supervision  of 
Mr.  Mahoney,  and  I  have  had  young  men  come  to  me  repeatedly,  and 
tell  me  how  much  they  owed  Mr.  Mahoney  for  what  he  had  done  for 
them,  not  only  in  an  educational  way,  but  as  regarded  advising  them 
in  what  line  they  might  be  best  fitted  for  future  employment.  Being 
the  teacher  that  he  was,  and  understanding  human  nature  as  he  did, 
those  young  men  who  have  followed  his  advice  can  better  than  some 
of  us  appreciate  how  valuable  such  advice  has  proven  to  be.  Mr. 
Mahoney  never  spared  himself,  and  though  apparently  not  having  the 
physical  strength  of  some  who  appeared  more  robust,  we  marvelled 
at  his  physical  endurance.  Rain  or  shine,  irrespective  of  what  the 
thermometer  registered,  Mr.  Mahoney,  notwithstanding  that  he  had 
put  in  several  hours  of  hard  work  in  the  South  Boston  High  School, 
where  he  was  instructor  in  English,  would  be  at  the  Catholic  Literary 
Union,  Monument  Square,  Charlestown,  night  after  night,  where  I 
have  seen  him  labor  until  twelve  o'clock,  and  this  gratuitously,  with  no 
other  desire  or  wish  in  his  heart  than  that  of  helping  somebody. 

Mr.  Mahoney  was  a  Christian  gentleman;  he  was  a  scholar,  gifted 
with  a  most  wonderful  analytical  mind,  and  the  ability  to  impart  to 
others,  but  above  all  he  was  full  of  charity  and  good  will  toward 
others.  He  seemed  happiest  when  assisting  even  to  the  smallest 
degree  his  fellow  man. 

I  am  glad  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  have  known  James  Mahoney. 

JAMES  J.  PHELAN. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  227 

To  somewhat  ennoble  the  surroundings  of  school  life,  to  give  the  children  a  glimpse 
of  a  finer  world,  would  be  our  wish.  The  school  children  of  today  are  soon  to  be  the 
citizens  of  the  Republic.  — James  Mahoney. 

Artistic  objects  introduced  in  profusion  cannot  alone  put  art  into  the  public  schools. 
These  objects  must  be  understood,  their  meaning  assimilated,  the  ideas  they  embody 
loved,  and  their  presence  made  an  organic  part  of  the  beauty  and  fitness  of  the  school- 
room, before  we  can  speak  of  the  influences  of  art  as  an  element  in  our  system  of  edu- 
cation. — Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Whitman. 

Our  civilization  does  not  need  more  money;  but  it  does  need  more  poetry,  more 
art,  more  humanity.  — James  Mahoney. 

Environment  is,  perhaps,  the  most  powerful  influence  in  life;  let  us  see  to  it  that 
the  surroundings  of  the  young  especially  are  both  attractive  and  inspiring. 

— James  Mahoney. 

PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ART  LEAGUE 

Mr.  James  Mahoney  was  connected  with  the  Public  School  Art 
League  shortly  after  its  beginning.  The  work  of  the  League  quickly 
commended  itself  to  him,  trained  as  he  was,  to  understand  the  needs 
of  the  children  and  youths,  eager  to  see  and  learn  about  the  best 
examples  of  Art  and  Nature,  which  could  be  placed  before  them  in 
schoolrooms,  where  day  in  and  day  out,  they  could  be  brought  face 
to  face  with  reproductions  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  art  of  Europe 
carried  to  a  large  scale  by  photographic  enlargements. 

He  realized  that  most  of  our  children  get  their  first  strong  impres- 
sions of  school  so  that  it  became  a  public  duty  to  make  the  schools 
and  their  surroundings  beautiful ;  and  that  reproductions  of  works  of 
art  of  the  highest  quality  should  be  used  in  guiding  and  moulding  the 
children  and  in  helping  them  to  realize  the  ideal  of  humanity. 

The  work  was  slow,  the  early  enthusiasm  of  the  association  flagged 
at  times.  The  results  were  good;  but  the  process  of  selecting  the 
schools  and  the  appropriate  illustrations  for  each  one  of  the  twenty 
rooms  which  our  Boston  schools  average  was  arduous.  The  annual 
subscriptions  of  $2  were  apt  to  fall  off  rather  than  to  increase;  members 
were  prone  to  turn  to  more-telling  and  less  isolated  work,  and  there 
were  many  resignations. 

In  the  face  of  these  difficulties  James  Mahoney,  as  chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committees,  held  true,  and  with  his  own  energy  and  sheer 
sense  of  duty,  kept  the  individuals  up  to  their  work,  where  a  lax  organ- 
ization of  volunteer  work  had  to  be  overcome,  and  turned  former 
failure  to  success. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  he  kept  the  league  alive  in  the  face 
of  illsustained  support,  and  kept  up  a  stout  and  chivalrous  fight  which 
likened  him,  as  one  of  his  co-workers  said,  to  a  Knight  of  old.  These 
qualities  carried  on  the  small  League  year  in  and  year  out,  until  its 
fruits  can  now  be  counted  with  satisfaction  and  some  pride. 

J.   T.    COOLIDGE. 


228  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

OLIVER  HAZARD  PERRY  SCHOOL, 

BOSTON,  March  5,  1907. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

The  teachers  of  this  school  at  a  recent  meeting  authorized  me  to 
convey  to  the  Public  School  Art  League  through  you  their  appre- 
ciative thanks  for  their  work  for  this  school. 

Not  only  are  the  pupils  and  teachers  pleased,  but  also  parents  and 
other  visitors  as  well. 

I  desire  to  make  special  mention  of  Mrs.  Merriman's  unusually 
successful  and  artistic  efforts. 

May  the  League  continue  its  helpful  and  elevating  and  refining 
work. 

Yours  very  gratefully, 

CHARLES  N.  BEN^LEY. 

THOMAS  N.  HART  SCHOOL, 

BOSTON,  February  2,  1906. 
DEAR  MR.  MAHONEY: 

It  has  been  my  intention  for  some  time  to  write  you  a  letter  to  tell 
you  how  much  I  appreciated  your  extreme  kindness  and  courtesy 
during  the  interviews  and  correspondence  relative  to  the  Boston 
Public  School  Art  League  of  which  you  are  a  prominent  member. 

It  was  all  the  more  marked  because  I  was  obliged  to  disappoint 
your  League  and  you  by  my  unwillingness  to  have  a  public  meeting 
at  the  time  you  suggested. 

I  hope  our  meeting  in  this  matter  may  be  the  beginning  of  a  long 
and  pleasant  acquaintance. 

Yours  truly, 

JOHN  F.  DWIGHT. 

29  CEDAR  AVE., 
MR.  JAMES  MAHONEY,  STONEHAM,  MASS. 

Secretary,  Public  School  Art  League. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  am  very  sorry  that  I  am  to  be  out  of  the  state  on  the  eighth  instant 
and  so  be  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  meeting  with  your  association 
and  expressing  to  them  my  appreciation,  as  well  as  that  of  the  teach- 
ers and  pupils  of  the  Washington  School,  of  the  very  beautiful  and 
generous  collection  of  photographs  recently  hung  in  our  school  rooms. 

If  you  could  know  the  interest  and  pleasure  which  the  children 
have  already  had  in  those  pictures  you  would  be  well  repaid.  In  very 
many  rooms  the  effect  upon  the  class  was  noticeable  at  once.  I  will 
cite  only  one  instance  and  that  of  the  first  grade  class  in  whose  room 
was  hung  Sir  Joshua  Reynold's  "Age  of  Innocence." 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  229 

In  imitation  of  the  little  girl  in  the  picture,  every  little  girl  in  the 
class,  except  three,  appeared  at  the  first  afternoon  session  with  hair 
nicely  dressed  and  adorned  with  a  pretty  bow  of  ribbon.  The  three 
who  had  no  ribbons  were  so  dejected  that  the  teachers  provided  them 
with  some  and  a  happier,  or  neater,  or  sweeter  class  of  little  girls  it 
would  have  been  hard  to  find  in  Boston. 

The  interest  displayed  in  this  room  has  been  paralleled  in  nearly 
every  one  of  the  thirty  rooms  in  which  the  pictures  were  hung. 

The  children  study  them  and  get  to  know  them. 

Aside  from  the  adornment  of  the  room  and  the  mere  pleasure  which 
they  afford,  I  regard  such  pictures  as  having  a  distinctly  educative 
value. 

I  commend  the  work  which  your  League  is  doing  and  thank  you 
most  sincerely  for  your  generosity  to  the  Washington  School. 

Very  truly  yours, 

BENJ.  J.  HINDS. 
July  5,  1910. 

ART  IN  THE  SCHOOLS 

League  in  South  Boston  Told  That  Beautiful  Surroundings  Give 
Incentive  to  Work 

A  very  largely  attended  and  interesting  meeting  of  the  Public 
School  Art  League  was  held  in  the  Assembly  Hall  of  the  South  Boston 
High  School,  South  Boston,  last  evening. 

James  Mahoney,  master  of  the  High  School,  an  enthusiastic  pro- 
moter of  the  beautiful  in  the  schools  and  a  deep  student  of  the  needs 
and  opportunities  for  the  young  people,  presided.  In  his  introduc- 
tory address  he  spoke  of  the  twelve  years  of  work  and  accomplish- 
ments of  the  League  in  providing  instructive  decorations  for  the  public 
schoolrooms  of  the  city,  chiefly  in  the  form  of  enlarged  photographs, 
busts  and  bas-reliefs.  He  said  that  the  League  is  doing  splendid 
work  with  limited  resources,  and  asked  for  support  and  interest  of 
a  larger  membership. 

The  other  speakers  were:  Arthur  Astor  Carey,  William  H.  Grueby, 
Rev.  Mortimer  E.  Twomey,  Charles  Bruen  Perkins. 

Charles  N.  Bentley,  master  of  the  Oliver  Hazard  Perry  School, 
which  school  has  been  beautifully  decorated  by  the  Art  League,  was 
the  concluding  speaker.  He  said  that  the  opinions  of  the  average 
boy  could  best  be  expressed  by  the  quotation  of  one  of  his  boys,  who 
said :  "  It  is  easier  to  work  and  harder  to  do  wrong  in  a  beautiful  and 
beautified  schoolroom."  Mr.  Bentley  further  spoke  of  the  splendid 
work  of  the  Public  School  Art  League  and  said  it  was  helpful  to  dis- 
cipline and  an  incentive  to  work  and  inspiring  of  higher  ideals. 


230  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Boston  Evening  Record,  January  31,  1911. 

The  Public  School  Art  League  is  starting  out  on  its  thirteenth 
year  of  work  with  a  large  supply  of  the  patience  and  perseverance 
which  have  given  its  quiet  work  the  reward  of  real  success.  If  the 
Art  Museum  is  doing  educational  work  in  its  larger  office,  the  League 
is  truly  a  very  large  assistant,  though  the  quiet  way  in  which  it  works 
makes  its  accomplishment  less  known  to  the  public. 

The  pupils  in  the  schools  do  not  have  to  be  told.  In  fourteen 
schools  they  have  fine  proof,  each  day,  on  their  work  on  photographs 
or  arts  of  some  of  the  finest  art  in  the  world.  Yet  the  fourteen  are 
about  a  ninth  of  all  the  schools  in  the  city,  and  as  it  takes  from  $400 
to  $700  to  decorate  completely  one  school,  and  there  are  only  180 
subscribers  to  the  League,  the  work  is  gradual.  There  are  some 
gifts. 

Miss  Martha  Silsbee  of  Marlboro  Street  is  treasurer.  James 
Mahoney  of  the  English  high,  the  head  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
works  indefatigably  year  by  year. 

NATIONAL  EDUCATIONAL  ASSOCIATION 

CONVENTION  AT  BOSTON 

1903 

July  18,  1903. 

The  local  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Educational  Asso- 
ciation Convention  wishes  to  thank  the  members  of  the  Public  School 
Art  League  for  their  valuable  contribution  of  pictures  which  they 
kindly  lent  to  the  Women's  Building  of  the  Convention.  They  went 
far  toward  making  the  building  more  attractive  and  interesting. 

EDWARD  K.  WARREN, 
Chairman  Local  Executive  Committee. 
PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ART  LEAGUE, 

60  State  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  following  extracts  from  various  reports  will  give  some  idea  of 
the  work  done  by  the  Public  School  Art  League  of  which  James 
Mahoney  was  chairman  for  the  twenty  years  he  was  connected  with 
it.  During  that  time  the  League  placed  about  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  pictures  and  casts  in  various  schools : 

What  shall  it  profit  a  nation  if  it  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose 
its  own  soul?  In  the  review  of  the  progress  during  the  past  century 
the  words  continually  repeated  are  "inventions,"  "trade,"  "wealth." 

No  sensible  person  will  belittle  the  importance  of  these  things;  but 
the  wise  know  that  our  country's  mission  is  not  fulfilled  by  these  things 
alone;  they  know  that  its  real  worth  consists  rather  in  its  endeavor  to 
realize  the  ideals  of  humanity  and  in  the  noble  specimens  of  humanity 
whom  it  has  produced. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  231 

All  thinking  people  clearly  see  that  our  public  schools  are  the  springs 
of  our  natural  life;  but  those  whose  minds  are  bent  solely  on  material 
things  would  make  the  education  purely  commercial  and  scientific. 

Those  of  deeper  insight  perceive  that  our  schools  should  also  nur- 
ture the  ideals  of  men,  whose  best  expression  is  found  in  the  fine  arts. 

The  Public  School  Art  League  believes  that  our  public  schools 
should  be,  indeed,  temples  of  learning,  adorned  with  all  that  can  at- 
tract and  inspire. 

A  humble  though  practical  effort  with  this  end  in  view  has  just 
been  made  by  the  League  in  the  Francis  Parkman  School,  Forest 
Hills.  The  school  house  itself  is  a  handsome  building,  on  high  ground 
with  rolling  open  space  about  it  and  hills  in  the  distance,  a  worthy 
memorial  to  the  highminded  scholar  whose  name  it  bears. 

As  one  enters  the  front  hall,  classic  views  of  Greece  and  Egypt 
greet  the  eye;  the  Nile;  the  Pyramids;  the  acropolis;  the  Parthenon, 
crown  of  Athens.  Flags  of  the  state  and  of  the  nation  guard  the  en- 
trance to  the  central  hall  where  are  found  portraits  of  Mr.  Parkman 
in  the  midst  of  scenes  familiar  in  his  works,  Indian  braves,  forests, 
mountains.  Beyond  the  central  hall  is  the  kindergarten  room,  the 
children's  royal  room. 

Here  are  objects  dear  to  the  heart  of  childhood,  dogs,  cats,  squirrels, 
ships,  and  high  in  the  center  the  Child  enthroned  in  the  arms  of 
Raphael's  Madonna. 

"They  make  us  pretty,"  "They  make  us  happy,"  say  the  children. 
"I  see  them  when  I  go  home,"  said  a  little  one.  Next  comes  the 
Lincoln  and  Washington  room.  Here  is  Mt.  Vernon  and  also  the 
mud-plastered  log  cabin  in  which  Lincoln  was  born.  A  large  photo- 
graph of  the  noble  Lincoln  by  St.  Gaudens  occupies  the  next  wall 
space,  while  directly  opposite  is  a  huge  picture  of  the  National 
Capitol  Building  at  Washington,  with  the  Stuart  Washington  por- 
traits on  either  side. 

"I  like  the  picture  of  George  Washington,"  writes  a  lad  of  nine 
years;  "he  was  a  brave  and  noble  man."  "His  face  looks  honest," 
says  a  little  girl  of  ten;  "I  like  Martha  Washington's  picture  because 
her  face  looks  as  though  she  was  smiling  at  us  all  the  time." 

"Washington  and  Lincoln  did  a  great  many  deeds,"  writes  a 
young  man  of  ten.  "When  Lincoln  was  small  he  was  poor;  Washing- 
ton was  born  in  a  very  rich  house." 

The  upper  front  hall  is  also  classic,  the  Roman  Forum,  an  Emperor 
and  a  Roman  "Victory." 

In  the  upper  central  hall  are  seen  Italian  views,  Venice,  Florence, 
with  cuts  from  works  by  famous  masters.  In  the  historical  room  are 
noted  figures  and  scenes  of  bygone  days  in  England,  France  and  Spain. 
Joan  of  Arc  and  the  Duke  of  Orleans  are  especial  favorites  with  the 
children. 


232  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

In  the  Francis  Parkman  room  the  portraits  please  best  the  boys; 
while  the  girls  are  especially  fond  of  the  gardens  and  flowers. 

It  has  seemed  best  to  make  subscription  to  the  work  of  the  League 
only  two  dollars  a  year  so  that  as  many  as  possible  might  share  in 
the  work. 

Address  Arthur  A.  Carey,  Treasurer  of  the  Public  School  Art 
League,  50  State  Street,  Boston. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 


Extracts  from  "Notes  and  Suggestions  on  Schoolroom  Decoration," 
compiled  by  James  Mahoney,  1898: 

THE  BOSTON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ART  LEAGUE 
The  Constitution 

OBJECT 

The  Public  School  Art  League,  of  Boston,  is  instituted  to  pro- 
mote the  adornment  of  schoolrooms,  and  the  cultivation  of  art  in 
the  schools. 

OFFICERS 

The  officers  of  the  League  shall  consist  of  a  President,  a  Vice- 
President,  a  Treasurer,  a  Secretary,  and  a  Board  of  five  directors. 

MEETINGS 

There  shall  be  two  annual  meetings;  on  the  first  Monday  in  Octo- 
ber and  the  first  Monday  in  May.  Fifteen  members  shall  constitute 
a  quorum. 

MEMBERSHIP 

All  persons  who  desire  to  further  the  objects  of  the  League  shall  be 
eligible  to  membership. 

DUES 

The  dues  shall  be  two  dollars,  payable  the  first  Monday  in  October. 

ELECTION   OF   OFFICERS 

The  election  of  officers  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  May. 
OFFICERS 

Henry  W.  Putnam,  President;  Frank  A.  Hill,  Vice-President; 
Arthur  Astor  Carey,  Treasurer,  29  Fairfield  Street,  Boston;  Walter 
Gilman  Page,  Secretary,  90  Westland  Avenue,  Boston. 

DIRECTORS 

Mrs.  F.  B.  Ames,  Mrs.  E.  H.  Richards,  Ross  Turner,  C.  Howard 
Walker,  James  Mahoney,  Chairman. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  233 

1898. 
THE  BOSTON  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ART  LEAGUE 

It  is  the  ideal  of  the  League  to  make  the  schoolhouse  a  temple 
worthy  to  receive,  and  fitted  to  inspire,  the  children  of  all  the  people 
to  the  dignity  of  free  citizenship  in  the  Republic. 

We  urge,  first  of  all,  that  the  school  buildings  be  of  good  archi- 
tecture, attractive  without,  and  worthy  to  receive  adornment  within. 

We  would  decorate  the  corridors,  rooms,  and  halls,  with  repro- 
ductions of  the  masterpieces  of  art, — photographs,  casts,  and,  should 
our  means  ever  permit,  with  the  more  costly  works  of  art,  selecting, 
arranging,  and  grouping  according  to  the  grade  and  mental  range  of 
the  pupils  concerned. 

This  movement,  though  still  in  its  infancy,  has  already  produced 
visible  results,  not  only  in  Boston  and  in  many  other  cities  and  towns 
in  New  England,  but  throughout  the  entire  country,  being  taken  up 
with  a  zeal  which  would  seem  incredible  to  those  who  see  in  art  only 
a  form  of  luxury. 

The  work  began  in  Boston  in  1871,  with  the  decoration  of  the  hall 
in  the  Girls'  High  School.  In  1883  (School  Document  20)  the  Boston 
School  Committee  suggested  help  and  action  in  line  with  the  move- 
ment of  the  English  Committee,  headed  by  John  Ruskin. 

Not  long  afterwards,  in  Salem,  Mr.  Ross  Turner,  feeling  the  lack 
of  appreciation  for  all  things  artistic  in  America,  when  he  saw  the 
handsome  Phillips  School  building  just  completed,  thought  that  here, 
in  the  schoolroom  with  the  children,  was  the  place  to  begin,  if  America 
was  ever  to  appreciate  such  things.  He  found  the  school  authorities, 
teachers,  and  pupils  most  ready  to  co-operate.  A  considerable  sum 
of  money  was  raised,  and  the  result  was  the  decoration  of  four  rooms 
in  the  Phillips  School  building  with  large  solar  prints  and  casts;  the 
city  tinting  the  walls  at  its  own  expense.  The  spaces  for  pictures  were 
filled  with  regard  to  size,  nothing  being  sacrificed  to  mere  ornamenta- 
tion. One  room  was  decorated  as  a  Roman  room,  another  as  Ameri- 
can, the  third  with  subjects  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  and  the  fourth 
with  Egyptian  subjects.  The  room  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  is 
perhaps  the  most  complete  and  interesting.  Here  the  light  was  cold 
and  cheerless  in  effect,  and  to  offset  this  the  walls  were  tinted  with  a 
light  Venetian  red.  For  decoration,  five  large  casts  of  the  bas-relief 
of  Luca  della  Robbia  were  used.  The  large  space  at  the  end  of  the 
room  was  adorned  with  a  large  photograph  of  the  "Aurora,"  by 
Guido  Reni. 

In  May,  1892,  the  Public  School  Art  League  was  formed  in  Boston, 
being  the  first  attempt  to  organize  the  movement  on  a  large  scale, 
and  sufficient  funds  were  collected  to  decorate  two  rooms,  a  petition 
having  been  presented  to  the  School  Board.  Among  the  twenty- 
four  names  attached  to  this  petition  were  those  of  Phillips  Brooks, 


234  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Edward  Everett  Hale,  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Francis  A.  Walker,  Eben 
N.  Horsford,  and  Charles  G.  Loring.  As  a  result  of  the  favorable 
action  of  the  School  Board,  a  room  in  the  English  High  School  wras 
decorated  with  photographs  and  casts  pertaining  to  Roman  art  and 
history. 

A  room  in  the  Rice  Primary  School  was  also  decorated  with  pic- 
tures and  casts,  mainly  relating  to  American  history. 

In  1894,  The  Agassiz  School,  Burroughs  Street,  Jamaica  Plain, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  principal  of  the  school  and  under  the 
leadership  of  Mr.  W'alter  Gilman  Page,  then  a  member  of  the  Boston 
School  Board,  was  decorated.  The  large  assembly  hall  was  hung 
with  pictures  illustrative  of  American  history,  such  as  "Washington 
Crossing  the  Delaware,"  portraits  of  Washington,  Lafayette,  Adams, 
etc. 

The  upper  corridor  contains  busts  of  Hamilton,  Webster,  Sumner, 
Phillips,  Agassiz,  and  Mann.  The  middle  corridor  is  filled  with  casts 
taken  from  subjects  of  Italian  and  Grecian  art,  such  as  six  slabs 
from  the  Parthenon  frieze,  "Boys  and  Girls  Singing  and  Playing  on 
Instruments,"  by  Luca  della  Robbia,  a  statue  of  Sophocles,  busts  of 
Zeus,  Apollo,  Diana,  Minerva,  etc. 

The  lower  corridor  contains  busts  of  Washington,  Franklin,  Jeffer- 
son, Lincoln,  Grant,  etc. 

Classroom  No.  6  is  to  be  decorated  with  subjects  pertaining  to 
English  history.  At  present  it  contains  busts  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
and  Shakespeare.  Additions  will  be  made  by  successive  graduating 
classes. 

MEMORIAL   ROOMS 

The  decoration  of  a  room  in  the  Latin  School,  Warren  Avenue, 
with  subjects  pertaining  directly  to  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  was 
permitted  by  the  generosity  of  one  of  the  descendants  of  Samuel 
Adams,  under  direction  of  Mr.  Page. 

GILBERT  STUART   SCHOOL 

In  May,  1897,  in  recognition  and  in  appreciation  of  the  naming 
of  this  school  after  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  American  painters, 
the  Boston  artists,  at  a  meeting  held  at  the  Boston  Art  Club,  voted  to 
issue  a  circular  to  the  members  of  their  profession  in  Boston,  asking 
for  contributions  of  pictures  in  oil,  watercolor,  pastel,  or  black  and 
white,  to  adorn  the  walls  of  the  principal's  room. 

In  consequence,  the  school  contains  a  collection  of  original  works 
of  art,  many  of  them  signed  by  men  of  wide  reputation. 

WORK   OF  SOCIETIES 

Many  societies  and  clubs  have  taken  up  the  work,  societies  of 
women,  in  particular,  doing  loyal  service.  Among  the  societies  con- 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  235 

tributing  are  the  following:  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  in  the 
Commonwealth;  Paul  Revere  Chapter,  Daughters  of  the  Revolution; 
Woman's  Relief  Corps;  Appalachian  Mountain  Club;  Twentieth 
Century  Club;  Women's  Educational  and  Industrial  Union;  The 
Historic  Art  Club  (Manchester,  N.  H.). 

PRACTICAL   SUGGESTIONS 

It  would  be  our  desire  to  give  as  many  practical  hints  and  sugges- 
tions as  possible,  such  information  as  school  authorities  and  others 
interested  are  most  desirous  of  receiving;  and  for  that  reason  we  insert 
chapters  on  the  following  topics : 

Tinting  of  the  Walls.  A  consideration  of  the  subject  of  wall-tinting 
led  to  unexpected  results,  namely,  that  the  glaring  white  of  the  walls 
of  our  schoolrooms  was  not  only  inartistic  but  actually  injurious  to 
the  pupils'  eyes,  straining  and  weakening  them;  and  further  consid- 
eration led  to  the  welcome  fact  that  art  and  hygiene  were  here  at  one, 
namely,  that  the  tints  which  would  rest  and  please  the  eye  were  also 
those  which  were  most  artistic,  such  as  soft  gray-greens  or  delicate 
shades  of  dull  blue,  while  for  halls  and  corridors  terra  cotta  tones 
afford  a  contrast  to  the  classrooms.  Tints  should  be  laid  on  in  flat 
washes,  the  depth  of  color  used  should  depend  upon  the  lighting  of 
the  room;  ceilings  must  be  tinted,  as  they  reflect  light.  In  general, 
thus,  the  tints  are  to  be  selected  according  to  the  situation  of  the  room 
and  the  lighting  of  it. 

One  of  the  questions  most  often  asked  is,  "Where  can  we  obtain 
a  list  of  suitable  reproductions  of  works  of  art?"  We  append,  in 
answer,  the  following  lists,  first  that  of  Mr.  Arthur  Astor  Carey, 
whose  collection  of  photographs  is  the  most  complete  single  list  that 
has  yet  been  put  together,  and  is  now  on  exhibition  in  the  Boston 
Public  Library;  secondly,  that  of  Mr.  Walter  Gilman  Page;  and, 
thirdly,  a  list  of  works  of  art  for  schoolroom  decoration  by  a  joint 
committee  representing  the  Boston  Art  Students'  Association,  Con- 
ference of  Educational  Workers,  and  the  Public  School  Art  League. 

[Extracts  from  James  Mahoney's  report,  1900.] 

Since  presenting  its  last  report,  the  Public  School  Art  League  has 
decorated  with  photographs  and  casts  two  schoolhouses, — the 
"Francis  Parkman,"  Walkhill  Street,  Forest  Hills,  and  the  "Bow- 
doin,"  Myrtle  Street,  Boston. 

In  order  that  the  League  may  become  a  vital  factor  in  the  education 
of  Boston,  it  ought  to  be  able  to  decorate  at  least  three  or  four  school 
buildings  each  year.  But  membership  dues  are  its  only  regular  source 
of  income  (two  dollars  per  year) . 

Every  one  who  is  really  interested  in  this  work  is  earnestly  requested 
to  induce  at  least  one  other  person  to  become  a  member  of  the  League. 


236  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

[Extracts  from  James  Mahoney's  report,  1901.] 

This  society  is  organized  for  the  purpose  of  providing  schoolrooms 
with  appropriate  works  of  art,  especially  with  photographs  and  plaster 
casts  of  the  great  and  simple  pictures  and  statues  of  the  world. 

It  believes  that  reproductions  of  works  of  the  highest  quality  should 
be  used  in  guiding  and  moulding  the  taste  of  children,  and  that  the 
old  truth,  Maxima  debetur  puero  reverentia,  applies  in  this  as  in  all 
other  fields  of  influence  and  education. 

A  pamphlet,  called  "Notes  and  Suggestions  on  Schoolroom  Deco- 
ration," has  been  published  by  the  society  for  the  use  of  kindred 
organizations  and  of  individuals  interested  in  similar  work,  and  will 
be  mailed,  without  charge,  to  any  applicant. 

It  is  believed  that  a  large  membership,  each  member  paying  a  small 
fee,  is  a  better  basis  for  such  a  society  than  larger  contributions  from 
comparatively  few  individuals,  and  therefore  the  annual  dues  have 
been  fixed  at  the  small  sum  of  two  dollars.  It  is  essential  to  success, 
however,  under  this  arrangement,  that  the  membership  should  be 
very  large,  and  therefore  you  are  earnestly  requested,  if  its  objects 
and  methods  meet  with  your  approval,  to  join  the  society  and  to 
induce  others  to  give  their  help  in  the  same  way. 

Address  Arthur  A.  Carey,  Treasurer  of  the  Public  School  Art 
League,  50  State  Street,  Boston. 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  ART  LEAGUE 

President — Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Whitman. 

V ice-Presidents — Mrs.  Fanny  B.  Ames,  Mrs.  Mary  Morton  Kehew,  Mrs.  Ellen  H. 
Richards,  Mrs.  Paul  Thorndike,  Mr.  J.  Templeman  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Mr.  Joseph  Lee, 
Mrs.  Henry  L.  Higginson,  Mrs.  Alice  Freeman  Palmer,  Mrs.  J.  Montgomery  Sears, 
Dr.  Wm.  Sturgis  Bigelow,  Mr.  Frank  A.  Hill,  Mr.  Robert  Treat  Paine. 

Secretary— Miss  Hilda  Whiteside,  The  Ludlow,  Copley  Square,  Boston. 

Treasurer—  Mr.  Arthur  A.  Carey,  50  State  Street,  Boston. 

Executive  Committee — Mr.  James  Mahoney,  Chairman;  Miss  Hilda  Whiteside,  Mr. 
J.  Randolph  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Mr.  Otto  Fleischner,  Mrs.  Louis  Prang,  Mr.  Arthur  A. 
Carey,  Mr.  J.  Templeman  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Mr.  Ross  Turner. 

[Extracts  from  James  Mahoney's  report,  1904.] 

"6. — It  is  important  that  school  buildings  and  school  grounds  should  be  planned  and 
decorated  so  as  to  serve  as  effective  agencies  for  educating  not  only  the  children,  but  the 
people  as  a  whole,  in  matters  of  taste.  The  school  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  com- 
munity centre,  and  its  larger  opportunities  impose  new  obligations.  School  buildings 
should  be  attractive  as  well  as  healthful,  and  the  adjoining  grounds  should  be  laid  out 
and  planned  with  appropriateness  and  beauty." — From  Resolutions,  National  Educa- 
tional Association,  Mechanics'  Hall,  July  10,  1903. 

In  order  that  the  work  of  the  Public  School  Art  League  may  grow,  the  Executive 
Committee  most  earnestly  urges  each  member  of  the  League  to  induce  at  least  one 
other  person  to  become  a  member. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  237 

REPORT  OF  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

It  is  now  more  than  two  years  since  the  Public  School  Art  League 
has  had  a  public  meeting. 

The  Executive  Committee  greatly  regrets  this  fact;  but  different 
circumstances  made  it  seem  necessary.  However,  the  work  of  the 
League,  namely,  the  decoration  of  schoolrooms,  did  not  cease;  and 
it  seems  to  be  a  fact  that  during  a  like  period  the  League  has  rarely 
accomplished  more. 

A  statement  has  already  been  issued  regarding  the  decoration  of 
the  Frothingham  School,  Charlestown. 

The  Benjamin  Dean  School  was  decorated  last  summer,  by  Mr. 
Peabody  of  the  Executive  Committee,  in  a  way  that  has  won  the 
cordial  approval  of  the  Sixth  Division  Committee  (having  the  Dean 
School  in  charge),  and  of  the  teachers.  Mr.  Peabody  is  at  present  at 
work  on  the  East  Boston  High  School. 

A  most  valuable  part  of  the  work  of  the  League  is  being  accom- 
plished by  the  sub-committee  (of  the  Executive  Committee)  known 
as  the  Color  Committee. 

The  Schoolhouse  Commission  has  seen  fit  to  intrust  it  with  the 
delicate  and  difficult  task  of  taking  in  charge  the  internal  coloring  of 
a  number  of  the  public  schools  of  the  city. 

The  members  are  requested  to  read  the  carefully  prepared  reports 
written  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Coolidge,  Jr. 

Great  credit  is  due  the  President  of  the  League,  Mrs.  Henry  Whit- 
man, for  the  excellent  color-scheme  for  the  Boston  Latin  and  English 
High  Schools,  drawn  up  by  her  during  the  trying  weather  of  the 
summer  of  1903. 

The  advent  of  the  National  Educational  Association  to  Boston 
last  summer  furnished  an  opportunity  for  the  spread  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  Public  School  Art  League,  which  the  Executive  Committee 
thought  ought  not  be  missed. 

Mr.  J.  T.  Coolidge,  Jr.,  and  Mr.  Otto  Fleischner,  at  an  expense 
of  about  one  hundred  dollars,  fitted  up  a  room  in  the  Girls'  Latin 
School  which  was  used  as  a  Woman's  Building.  This  room  gave 
pleasure  to  many  thousands  of  the  teachers  during  the  convention 
week,  as  testified  by  the  warm  thanks  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  National  Educational  Association. 

The  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  League  was 
requested  by  the  officers  of  the  National  Educational  Association 
to  form  a  local  reception  committee  to  represent  Boston  art  interests 
at  the  convention. 

Such  a  committee  was  accordingly  formed.  Headquarters  were 
established  at  the  Normal  Art  School. 

(a)  Lectures  were  given  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Coolidge,  Jr.,  and  Mr.  Ross 


238  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Turner,  on  the  decoration  of  schoolhouses,  to  audiences  that  could 
scarcely  be  contained  within  the  appointed  halls. 

(b)  A  number  of  receptions  in  the  studios  of  leading  Boston  artists 
were  arranged.     These  were  well  attended,  and  much  appreciated 
by  the  visiting  teachers. 

(c)  An  exhibition  of  the  work  of  the  Massachusetts  School  of 
Design,  of  the  Benson  and  Tarbell  and  of  the  Eric  Pape  Schools, 
was  also  held,  and  was  well  attended. 

The  work  of  the  League  was  appreciated  by  the  N.  E.  A.  and  its 
principles  were  strongly  endorsed  in  the  final  resolutions  of  the 
convention. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

JAMES  MAHONEY, 
Chairman  Executive  Committee. 

BOSTON,  January  25,  1904. 
To  JAMES  MAHONEY,  ESQ., 

Chairman    Executive    Committee    Boston    Public   School   Art 

League. 
Dear  Sir: 

At  the  request  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Boston  Public 
School  Art  League,  I  last  summer  took  charge  of  the  decoration  of  the 
Benjamin  Dean  School,  South  Boston. 

As  the  school  is  for  very  young  children,  the  choice  of  pictures  and 
casts  was  somewhat  difficult,  the  question  being  how  to  interest  them 
without  choosing  subjects  of  a  somewhat  low  artistic  standard.  This 
danger,  I  think,  has  been  overcome.  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  delight 
of  their  teachers  in  being  surrounded  by  beautiful  things,  and  this 
pleasure  will  doubtless  be  in  some  way  reflected  in  the  instruction  of 
their  pupils. 

All  the  walls  of  the  classrooms  I  found  tinted  a  shade  of  buff;  and, 
although  as  a  background  for  the  casts  it  was  not  satisfactory,  no 
change  was  made  on  account  of  the  cost,  as  it  seemed  probable  that, 
when  the  time  came  to  do  them  again,  better  shades  could  be  selected 
at  the  expense  of  the  city.  The  decorations  were  all  placed  in  the 
classrooms,  except  that  over  the  landing  of  the  west  or  main  staircase 
was  placed  Houdon's  bust  of  Washington  on  a  bracket,  with  two  large 
United  States  flags  crossed  and  draped  behind  it. 

List  of  photographs  and  casts  used  in  the  rooms  of  the  Benjamin 
Dean  School,  South  Boston: 

Room  1.  North  wall,  over  teacher's  desk,  Cast,  four  panels  from  Cantoria  Frieze 
by  Lucca  della  Robbia. 

East  wall,  The  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  Paris. 

West  wall,  Holy  Trinity,  Stratford-on-Avon;  Portrait  of  Abraham  Lincoln  with  flag 
over  it;  Portrait  of  General  U.  S.  Grant  with  flag  over  it. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  239 

Room  2.  South  wall,  Portraits  of  George  and  Martha  Washington  with  view  of 
Mt.  Vernon  between  them,  over  this  two  Sags  draped. 

East  wall,  Cast,  slab  X  from  Parthenon  Frieze. 

West  wall,  Cows  at  the  Watering-trough,  Dupre. 

Room  3.  Kindergarten,  North  wall,  Shoeing  the  Bay  Mare,  Landseer;  Holy  Fam- 
ily, Murillo;  Cast,  Bambino,  Andrea  della  Robbia. 

West  wall,  The  Singing  Class,  Wunsck;  Sheep  Feeding,  Mauve. 

Room  4.  Kindergarten,  South  wall,  Cast,  Winged  Victory;  four  colored  prints, 
The  Seasons. 

East  wall,  Feeding  the  Hens,  J.  F.  Millet. 

West  wall,  Watering  the  Horses,  Dagnan-Bouveret. 

Room  5.  Noith  wall,  Feeding  her  Birds,  J.  F.  Millet;  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  Rome; 
Arab  on  Dromedary,  from  life. 

South  wall,  Cast,  Madonna  and  Child,  Luca  della  Robbia. 

West  wall,  Cast,  Morning,  Thorwaldsen;  Cast,  Night,  Thorwaldsen;  Niagara  Falls, 
United  States  flag  over  it. 

Room  6.     South  wall,  Washington  crossing  the  Delaware,  flag  over;  Cast,  Declara- 
tion of  Independence;  Cast,  Treaty  of  Peace. 

East  wall,  Cast,  Head  of  Virgin,  on  bracket. 

Wrest  wall,  the  Ducal  Palace,  Venice. 

Room  7.  North  wall,  Overflow  of  Nile  and  Pyramids,  from  nature;  The  Repose  in 
Egypt.  Van  Dyck;  Cast,  Cupids  Singing,  Gian  da  Bologna. 

East  wall,  The  Goose  Girl,  J.  F.  Millet. 

West  wall,  Capitol  at  Washington,  flag  over. 

Room  8.  South  wall,  Carnival  of  Columbus;  United  States  Frigate,  Constitution; 
United  States  Warship,  Massachusetts;  two  pennants,  Union  Jack  and  United  States 
flag,  draped  over  these. 

East  wall,  The  First  Step,  J.  F.  Millet;  Cast,  Madonna  and  Child,  Rosselino. 

On  the  walls  omitted  in  above  list  were  placed  various  casts  and 
photographs  already  in  possession  of  the  school.  The  whole  cost  of 
the  decoration  of  this  school  was  just  under  $500. 

I  remain, 
Yours  respectfully, 

J.  E.  PEABODY. 


[Extracts  from  James  Mahoney's  report,  1907.] 

Since  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Public  School  Art  League 
made  its  last  report,  Mr.  John  Endicott  Peabody  has  decorated  the 
East  Boston  High  schoolhouse;  Mrs.  Daniel  Merriman,  the  Oliver 
Hazard  Perry  schoolhouse  in  South  Boston;  and  Miss  Martha  Silsbee 
and  Mr.  J.  Templeman  Coolidge,  Jr.,  the  Dearborn  schoolhouse  in 
Roxbury  and  the  Quincy  schoolhouse  in  the  South  End. 

To  these  decorators  of  the  League  special  thanks  and  gratitude 
are  due.  No  one  who  is  not  familiar  with  the  details  of  this  kind 
of  work  can  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  it,  nor  comprehend  how  it 
takes  time  and  taxes  patience. 

Those  who  believe  in  the  value  of  school  decoration  are  earnestly 
requested  to  secure  new  members  for  the  League,  as  membership  fees 


240  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

constitute  its  chief  source  of  income.  These  fees  are  only  two  dollars 
per  year.  Special  gifts  both  of  money  and  of  objects  of  art  suitable 
for  the  schoolroom  are  welcome  indeed.  Contributions  should  be 
sent  to  Miss  Martha  Silsbee,  Treasurer,  115  Marlborough  Street, 
Boston. 

JAMES  MAHONEY, 
Far  the  Executive  Committee. 
BOSTON*, 

April  30,  1907. 

EAST  BOSTON  HIGH  SCHOOL, 

BOSTON,  April  9,  1907. 
MR.  JAMES  MAHOXEY, 

The  Charlesgate,  Boston,  Mass. 
Dear  Sir: 

In  the  absence  of  Mr.  Peabody,  I  am  asked  to  make  a  report  upon 
the  work  of  the  Public  School  Art  League  in  decorating  the  East 
Boston  High  School  in  1905. 

The  stipulation  that  the  Alumni  should  provide  $100  was  met  by  a 
favorable  vote  at  the  meeting  in  May,  and  the  statuary,  pictures, 
and  busts  were  procured.  These  were  placed  in  the  building  as 
follows:  In  the  lower  corridor  the  large  statue  of  Thalia,  the  Muse 
of  Comedy,  upon  a  large  pedestal;  a  pedestal  was  provided  also  for  a 
companion  piece,  Clio,  Muse  of  History,  owned  by  the  school.  On 
the  walls  of  the  lower  staircase  in  either  end  of  the  building  were 
placed  sixteen  busts  on  plaster  supports  fastened  to  the  walls,  eight  in 
each  staircase;  four  historical  characters  in  early  American  history — 
Washington,  Franklin,  Lafayette,  and  Hamilton;  four  in  later — 
Webster,  Grant,  Lincoln,  and  John  A.  Andrew. 

In  the  corresponding  staircase  were  placed  five  busts  of  noted 
Romans — Cicero,  Virgil,  Caesar,  Caesar  Augustus,  and  Marcus 
Aurelius;  and  three  busts  of  mythological  characters — Apollo,  Min- 
erva, and  Diana.  On  the  walls  of  the  upper  staircase  were  hung,  at 
one  end  of  the  building,  three  3x4  feet  photographs  of  American 
interest — Niagara  Falls,  the  Great  Geyser  of  the  Yellowstone  Na- 
tional Park,  and  the  Capitol  at  Washington.  On  the  staircase  at  the 
other  end  were  hung  three  large  photographs  of  foreign  views — 
Notre  Dame  Cathedral  at  Paris,  St.  Peter's  Church  at  Rome,  and 
the  Sistine  Madonna.  In  the  classrooms  several  pictures  were 
grouped  in  a  few  rooms,  instead  of  scattering  them;  in  the  senior 
classroom  a  large  view  of  the  Avon  and  church  at  Stratford,  the  scene 
of  Cicero's  first  oration  against  Catiline  in  the  Roman  Senate,  and  a 
large  view  of  the  Nile  near  the  Pyramids.  In  another  room  two 
large  pictures — Washington  Crossing  the  Delaware  and  the  Signing 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  241 

The  statuary  and  pictures  are  adapted  to  the  character  of  the 
building  as  well  as  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  school,  and  have  an 
influence  in  harmony  with  each  and  enhance  the  interest  of  both. 
They  give  to  the  building  a  feeling  of  culture  and  refinement,  and  the 
Art  League  may  feel  assured  that  its  work  is  not  only  appreciated  by 
pupil  and  teacher,  but  that  it  is  an  effective  agent  for  the  production 
of  higher  things. 

Yours  very  truly, 

JOHN  F.  ELIOT. 

The  Oliver  Hazard  Perry  School  was  decorated  in  the  spring  of 
1906.  As  this  school  has  a  most  beautiful  location  near  the  sea  at 
City  Point,  South  Boston,  and  as  it  bears  the  name  of  a  naval  hero, 
it  was  thought  well  to  decorate  the  assembly  hall  in  honor  of  great 
naval  achievements. 

The  plaster  walls  and  cornices  of  this  hall  had  never  been  painted, 
so  a  tone  of  greenish  olive  gray  was  put  over  them  and  a  number  of 
cream-white  tablets,  with  gold  borders  and  gold  lettering,  were 
introduced. 

At  the  rear  of  the  platform  garlands  of  laurel  were  painted  on  the 
wall,  and  between  them  three  laurel  wreaths,  suspended  by  sky-blue 
ribbons,  inclosed  the  names  of  John  Paul  Jones,  Oliver  Hazard  Perry, 
and  David  Gridley  Farragut.  Under  these  were  painted  horizontal 
tablets,  each  bearing  a  brave  saying  of  the  hero  whose  name  stood  in 
the  wreath  above. 

On  the  walls  at  the  sides  of  the  platform  were  placed  tall  tablets, 
with  the  names  of  the  greatest  naval  commanders,  from  Themistocles 
down,  painted  on  them.  Below,  at  one  side,  three  smaller  tablets 
recorded  the  greatest  naval  victories  of  the  world.  Balancing  these, 
at  the  opposite  side  of  the  hall,  was  placed  a  bas-relief  from  Trajan's 
Column,  representing  Victory  inscribing  names  on  a  shield. 

Around  the  wall  under  the  gallery  were  hung  framed  pictures,  such 
as  the  "Old  Constitution,"  the  "Battle  of  Lake  Erie,"  "Farragut  at 
Mobile  Bay,"  the  "Bonhomme  Richard  and  Serapis,"  etc.,  and  a 
large  photograph  of  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  taken  from  the  bronze 
statue  of  him  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  in  which  he  is  represented  carrying 
his  flag  over  his  arm  as  he  goes  in  an  open  boat  from  his  sinking  flag- 
ship to  another  vessel. 

Besides  these,  two  laurel  wreaths  in  plaster  were  hung  under  the 
gallery,  one  of  which  bore  the  honored  name  of  Florence  Nightingale 
and  the  other  that  of  Dorothea  Dix;  and  at  the  rear  of  the  hall  two 
heart-shaped  tablets  were  made  to  set  forth  generous  and  inspiring 
words  and  deeds.  On  one  was  recorded  the  story  of  Commander 
Craven,  who,  in  the  turret  of  the  sinking  monitor  Tecumseh,  gave  up 
to  his  pilot  the  only  chance  to  escape,  and  perished  with  his  ship.  On 


242  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the  other  were  inscribed  Lawrence's  exhortation,  "Don't  give  up  the 
ship";  Nelson's,  "England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty";  and 
Philip's,  "Don't  cheer,  men,  the  poor  fellows  are  dying." 

There  remained  two  very  large  and  conspicuous  wall  spaces  at  the 
ends  of  the  gallery,  on  either  side  of  the  hall.  In  these  two  circular 
pictures,  each  eight  feet  in  diameter,  were  painted.  One  represented 
a  Spanish  caravel  of  the  time  of  Columbus,  and  bore  the  date  1492. 
The  other  showed  a  modern  full-rigged  battleship,  with  the  date  1906. 
Each  of  these  pictures  was  inclosed  in  a  wreath  of  laurel.  The 
caravel  was  painted  in  tones  of  red  and  ochre,  with  decorated  sails, 
on  a  peacock  blue  sea;  and  the  battleship  was  white,  with  ochre  tur- 
rets, on  a  cold  blue  North  Atlantic  sea. 

The  expense  of  coloring  the  walls  and  cornices  of  the  assembly  hall 
and  also  of  the  stairs  and  corridors  of  the  whole  building  (above  the 
high  dado)  was  borne  by  the  Schoolhouse  Commission,  as  these  had 
never  been  tinted.  In  the  corridors  a  pale  reddish  brown  tone  was 
used,  to  harmonize  with  the  red-brown  dado  already  there.  Then  a 
bas-relief  from  Thorwaldsen's  "Triumphal  Entry  of  Alexander  into 
Babylon"  was  placed  over  each  of  the  two  entrance  doors  to  the 
assembly  hall,  and  a  cast  of  the  Delia  Robbia  Singing  Boys,  Children 
Dancing,  and  Playing  on  Instruments,  etc.,  was  placed  over  each  of 
the  six  schoolroom  doors  in  the  corridor  on  the  lower  floor. 

Fourteen  schoolrooms  were  still  to  be  decorated,  and  it  seemed 
needful  to  put  something  attractive  in  each,  as  all  the  school  had 
joined  in  raising  $200,  by  giving  a  concert,  to  supplement  the  funds 
of  the  Public  School  Art  League. 

To  find  suitable  works  of  art  for  such  a  purpose  is  not  easy.  They 
must  be  of  considerable  size  in  order  to  make  any  effect,  and  they 
must  be  of  really  good  quality,  yet  they  must  not  cost  too  much.  In 
some  rooms  casts  alone  were  used.  The  Singing  Cherubs  of  Giovanni 
di  Bologna  was  quite  enough  for  one  room.  In  another  a  long  slab  of 
dancing  maidens,  at  either  end  of  which  was  a  bracket  supporting  a 
statuette.  These  statuettes  were  given  to  the  League  by  Miss  Ellen 
Parker,  on  behalf  of  her  father.  She  also  gave  a  bust  of  Clytie  and 
a  head  of  Apollo.  These  were  placed  on  brackets  in  two  of  the  other 
rooms,  with  a  picture  on  either  side.  In  another  room  a  picture  was 
placed  in  the  center  and  Thorwaldsen's  Night  and  Morning  hung  on 
either  side.  In  another  two  "cupids  from  the  tomb  of  Henry  IV" 
supported  a  central  picture.  A  madonna  by  Rosellino  was  made  the 
central  point  in  another  room,  and  two  of  the  cherub  reliefs  from 
San  Antonio  at  Padua  (which  are  tall  and  narrow)  hung  at  either  side 
of  a  central  picture  in  yet  another.  In  every  case  but  one  the  decora- 
tion was  confined  to  the  wall  at  the  end  of  the  room  above  the  teacher's 
chair.  The  exception  was  the  Washington  room,  in  which  a  colored 
print  of  Mt.  Vernon  was  hung  opposite  the  teacher's  end,  while  above 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  243 

her  chair  a  has- relief  of  the  Signing  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  placed  in  the  middle,  flanked  by  fine  engravings  from  the  Stuart 
portraits  of  George  and  Martha  Washington.  These  portraits  and 
their  frames  were  given  to  the  school  by  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of 
the  Revolution,  respectively. 

All  the  pictures,  with  this  exception  (and  there  were  a  good  many 
of  them,  as  two  and  even  three  were  used  in  some  rooms),  were  col- 
ored pictures.  It  was  felt  that  casts  and  photographs,  however,  good 
in  themselves,  were  rather  severe  for  the  ordinary  child's  appreciation, 
so  colored  pictures  were  sought  for.  A  series  of  large  colored  prints, 
measuring  perhaps  two  by  three  feet  when  framed,  had  been  issued  in 
Germany  for  the  special  purpose  of  schoolroom  decoration,  and  these 
were  introduced  with  excellent  effect.  The  subjects  are  romantic 
landscapes  and  village  scenes,  and  some  are  figure  compositions. 
Another  smaller  series  of  Dutch  scenes  was  also  used.  The  coloring 
was  pleasing,  and  they  did  much  to  brighten  the  rooms.  The  whole 
sum  spent  in  doing  the  decorative  painting  in  this  school  (exclusive 
of  the  plain  wall  coloring),  purchasing  casts  and  pictures,  framing 
the  latter,  and  putting  everything  in  its  place  was  about  $680,  of 
which  $200  was  contributed  by  the  school  itself. 

H.  B.  MERRIMAN. 

To  JAMES  MAHONEY,  ESQ., 

Chairman  Executive  Committee, 

Boston  Public  School  Art  League. 
Dear  Sir: 

The  four  upper  schoolrooms,  the  assembly  hall,  and  the  corridor  at 
the  top  of  the  central  staircase  of  the  Dearborn  School  are  the  only 
spaces  in  that  school  where  decoration  was  attempted.  Already  in 
the  assembly  hall  were  some  casts  and  a  few  large  framed  photographs 
of  landscapes  which  had  been  presented  to  the  school  by  graduating 
classes.  As  these  were  all  good  of  their  kind,  a  photograph  head  of 
Franklin  and  one  of  Hamilton  were  added  to  make  a  more  harmonious 
group  of  three  at  either  end  of  the  hall,  and  the  frieze  already  started 
was  continued  over  the  center  platform,  the  subject  being  "Chariots," 
in  two  sections,  a  relief  copied  from  that  found  in  Herculaneum,  with  a 
central  piece  of  Bacchantes  from  an  old  sarcophagus  of  the  same  pe- 
riod. Under  the  last  were  placed  two  American  flags,  one  red  with  a 
pine  tree  on  the  white  stripe,  the  New  England  Old  Colonial;  the  other 
dark  blue,  the  Bunker  Hill  flag,  together  with  a  plaster  cast  of  the 
eagle,  to  give  some  color  to  the  prevailing  gray  tone  of  the  walls. 

It  was  the  master's  (Mr.  King)  desire  that  the  school  might  do 
something  towards  the  expense  of  the  frieze,  and  for  this  purpose  a 
meeting  was  organized  and  a  talk  given  upon  the  war,  which  proved  a 
great  success,  showing  much  interest  in  the  cause,  and  thereby  enough 


244  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

money  was  secured  to  pay  for  the  frieze;  and  it  is  the  hope  of  the  com- 
mittee that  this  same  interest  shall  continue  until  the  hall  is  finished 
and  perhaps  the  rest  of  the  schoolhouse  as  well. 

The  four  upper  rooms  were  chosen  as  a  beginning  because  they  are 
the  upper  grade  rooms  and  the  only  ones  on  the  same  floor  as  the 
assembly  hall .  The  wishes  of  the  teachers  were  consulted  as  much  as 
possible,  and  in  Number  19,  the  only  sunny  one  of  the  four,  were  put 
a  large  photograph  by  Carpaccio  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  from 
the  church  in  Venice,  at  the  end;  one  of  Amalfi  and  one  of  the  Castle 
of  St.  Angelo  and  the  Tiber,  on  the  side;  and  over  the  teacher's  desk 
were  hung  a  bas-relief  of  Luca  della  Robbia's  madonna,  with  photo- 
graphs of  Murillo's  madonna  and  Velasquez's  Olivarez  on  either  side. 
Four  smaller  photographs  already  in  the  room  were  left,  and  on  the 
side  of  the  row  of  windows  and  between  them  were  placed  three  small 
reliefs  of  fruit,  asked  for  by  the  teachers  in  behalf  of  the  children  and 
for  which  they  were  eager  enough  to  subscribe  the  money.  The  room 
opposite  this,  Number  20,  has  no  sun,  and  so  over  the  teacher's  desk 
were  placed  three  colored  Swiss  landscapes,  and  facing  these  two 
American  landscapes,  one  of  Niagara  and  the  other  a  Western  canon, 
leaving  also  in  this  room  a  few  small  ones  already  there. 

On  the  farther  end  of  the  schoolhouse,  Number  18  is  much  over- 
shadowed by  a  building;  and  so  in  this  room  is  another  colored  group 
of  three  Dutch  subjects,  with  two  plaster  reliefs  of  Donatello  angels 
and  a  Bellini  madonna  between  them  over  the  teacher's  desk.  In  the 
fourth  room  Number  21,  over  the  teacher's  desk  were  hung  three 
photographs  of  ships — the  Santa  Maria,  the  Constitution,  and  the 
modern  battleship  Massachusetts.  Opposite  to  these  are  Farragut's 
Victory  at  Mobile  Bay,  Sherman's  March  through  Georgia,  and  a 
peaceful  wood  scene,  with  deer,  by  Rosa  Bonheur;  two  smaller  ones 
were  already  there,  hanging  on  the  side  opposite  the  windows. 

The  corridors  do  not  lend  themselves  easily  to  decoration,  so  that 
little  was  done;  but  half  way  up  the  first  staircase  was  a  flat  surface, 
and  on  this  was  put  the  centre  section  of  the  bas-relief  of  the  "Field 
of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,"  from  Amiens,  the  two  other  sections  being 
placed  on  the  corridor  wall  opposite  the  staircase. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 


245 


114  BEACON  STREET,  April  16, 1907. 
J.  MAHONEY,  ESQ. 

Dear  Sir: 

I  send  you,  according  to  request  of  Miss  Silsbee,  a  list  of  pictures 
selected  for  the  Quincy  School. 
Photographs : 

Amain,  Italy. 
Murillo — Madonna . 
Woods  and  Deer  (Rosa  Bonheur). 
Three  boat  pictures — 
Santa  Maria, 
Constitution, 
Massachusetts. 
Niagara. 

Grand  Canon  of  Colorado. 

Two — Velasquez  (Olivarez  and  Infant  Balthasar). 
Carpaccio — St.  George. 
Twelve  German  colored  pictures. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds — Turner  reproduction  of  Angel  Heads. 
Yours  very  truly, 

J.  T.  COOLIDGE,  JR. 

STATEMENT  OF  TREASURER 

Jan.  1,  1905.    Dues $641 .00 

Cash  from  former  Treasurer 527.85 

$1,168.85 

RECEIPTS 

1906.    Dues $394.96 

Donations 264.00 

658.96 

$1,827.81 

PAYMENTS 

1906.    Checkbook $1.25 

Printing 4.75 

Carting 4.00 

Solar  prints  and  framing 52 . 80 

Flags 37.31 

Treasurer's  expenses 15 . 96 

Sculptor 9.25 

Casts 195.00 

Frames 94.75 

James  Wingate 211.75 

Perry  School 85.15 

$711.97 

Cash  on  hand  December  28,  1906 •  1,115.84 

$1,827.81 


246  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Expenses  incurred  in  connection  with  work  on  the  Quincy  and  Dearborn  schoolhouses 
are  as  follows: 
April,  1907.    Flags,  poles,  and  rings 

H.  R.  Turner  Co 

Hanging  pictures 

Charles  E.  Cobb 

To  Treasurer  for  stamps 

P.  P.  Caproni  &  Bro 

W.  H.  Pierce 

Hanging  pictures 

$619.53 


MARTHA  SILSBEE, 

Treasurer. 
[Extracts  from  James  Mahoney's  report,  1911.] 

The  Public  School  Art  League  has  for  twelve  years  been  engaged 
upon  the  work  of  providing  instructive  decorations  for  the  Public 
Schoolrooms  of  the  City  of  Boston,  chiefly  in  the  form  of  enlarged 
photographs,  busts,  and  bas-reliefs. 

The  League  is  carrying  on  this  important  work  with  only  slight 
means  at  its  disposal,  namely,  the  $2.00  annual  contributions  of  its 
members;  and  it  asks  for  the  support  and  interest  of  a  larger  member- 
ship. 

The  details  of  the  work  will  be  found  on  the  succeeding  sheets. 

Most  of  our  children  get  their  first  strong  impressions  at  school,  and 
so  it  becomes  a  public  duty  to  make  the  schools  and  surroundings 
beautiful. 

Children  by  nature  hunger  for  beauty  in  some  form,  and  are  quick 
to  respond  to  it.  By  what  process  shall  they  be  awakened  to  the  love 
of  the  beautiful  in  art  and  nature,  and  be  taught  to  feel  what  is  really 
fine? 

The  Public  School  Art  League  has  tried  to  answer  this  question  by 
providing  schoolrooms  with  appropriate  works  of  art,  especially  with 
photographs  and  plaster  casts  of  the  great  and  simple  pictures  and 
statues  of  the  world.  It  believes  that  reproductions  of  works  of  the 
highest  quality  should  be  used  in  guiding  and  molding  the  taste  of 
children  and  in  helping  them  to  realize  the  ideals  of  humanity. 

The  great  opportunity  which  is  here  offered  to  improve  the  children 
by  putting  them  in  the  presence  of  beautiful  and  appropriate  subjects 
may  be  better  appreciated  when  it  is  realized  that  each  schoolhouse 
averages  twenty  rooms,  with  forty  or  more  pupils  in  each  room;  that 
in  Boston  alone  100,000  children  spend  from  five  to  six  hours  daily  at 
school;  how  far-reaching  such  influences  must  be,  and  what  an  amount 
of  good  can  be  done  by  enlarging  them! 

Our  new  public  schoolrooms  are  comfortable,  clean,  well  lighted  and 
ventilated,  and  the  Schoolhouse  Commission  which  has  charge  of  their 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  247 

building  and  decoration  has  given  the  League  its  hearty  support  by 
inviting  it  to  select  the  interior  colors  and  by  furnishing  appropriate 
colors  for  the  woodwork,  desks,  and  chairs;  and  in  some  cases  it  has 
been  able  to  provide  an  occasional  tablet,  bust,  stained  glass  window, 
or  cast.  But  these  are  few,  and  the  rooms  remain  more  or  less  bare; 
and  it  has  justly  been  said  that  the  schoolhouses  should  be  attractive 
as  well  as  healthful. 

"I  like  to  go  to  school,"  wrote  a  child  from  one  of  the  schools  dec- 
orated by  the  League,  "because  it  has  so  many  large,  beautiful 
pictures." 

"I  would  like  to  have  the  picture  of  Lincoln,"  writes  another, 
"because  he  stands  so  good."  And  another : 

"  I  like  the  Capitol  because  it  is  so  large  and  beautiful." 

A  few  such  impressions  only  have  been  recorded,  but  we  can  imag- 
ine how  many  and  varied  are  the  unrecorded  expressions  of  interest 
and  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  thousands  of  children  who  come  under 
these  humanizing  influences. 

The  older  schools  in  more  crowded  districts  need  more  attention 
than  the  new  ones,  because  they  are  often  shabby  and  cheerless,  and 
are  for  this  reason  frequently  chosen  for  decoration  by  the  League; 
but  the  work  on  schools,  old  and  new,  is  limited  to  one  or  two  a  year, 
because  it  costs  from  $400  to  $700  to  decorate  completely  one  school- 
house  by  hanging  three  or  four  enlarged  photographs  and  perhaps 
one  or  two  casts  in  every  room;  and  the  only  source  of  income  for  this 
work  is  derived  from  the  $2.00  contributions  of  annual  subscribers 
who  now  number  180,  and  a  few  gifts  from  interested  friends. 

During  the  last  twelve  years,  fourteen  of  the  225  schools  in  Boston 
have  been  decorated  by  the  League,  each  one  with  some  regard  to  its 
name,  associations,  and  locality. 

The  enlarged  photographs  measure  twenty-six  by  thirty-six  and 
thirty  by  forty  inches,  and  eight  inches  more  in  height  and  width,  with 
their  mounts  and  frames.  The  prices  are,  for  the  League,  $9.50  and 
$12.75,  respectively.  They  include  such  subjects  as  Diirer's  Rabbit, 
Millet's  Mother  and  Children,  the  Sistine  Madonna,  Velasquez's 
Prince  Balthazar  on  a  galloping  horse;  and  photographs  and  casts 
from  the  Delia  Robbias  and  other  masters  for  the  younger  children. 

The  other  subjects  include  American  ships,  the  frigate  Constitution 
and  battleship  Massachusetts;  a  Sioux  chief,  the  Capitol  at  Washing- 
ton, Mount  Vernon,  Niagara  Falls,  the  Rocky  Mountains,  George 
and  Martha  Washington,  Abraham  Lincoln;  paintings  of  Benozzo 
Gozzoli,  Velasquez,  Titian,  Reynolds,  Millet;  the  Parthenon,  Roman 
Forum,  Gothic  cathedrals,  the  Duomo  at  Florence,  grand  canals  and 
palaces  at  Venice,  etc. 

The  plaster  casts  of  sculpture  which  supplement  the  larger  photo- 
graphs are  mainly  taken  from  the  Italian  Renaissance,  and  include  also 


248  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

portraits  of  distinguished  Americans.  They  serve  chiefly  to  decorate 
the  halls  and  assembly  rooms. 

National  and  state  flags,  too,  are  used  for  decoration,  and  to  arouse 
patriotism,  while  certain  pictures  represent  vital  scenes  in  our  coun- 
try's life. 

In  order  that  the  League  may  become  an  important  factor  in  the 
education  of  Boston,  it  is  essential  that  the  membership  should  be 
large,  and  those  who  believe  in  the  value  of  school  decorations  are 
earnestly  requested  to  join  the  League  and  to  induce  others  to  join  as 
well ;  and  gifts  of  money  or  work  will  be  very  welcome. 

The  need  of  more  workers  is  urgent,  and  new  ideas  are  necessary 
to  broaden  the  field  of  the  few  upon  whom  the  labor  has  fallen.  Sub- 
scriptions or  contributions  may  be  sent  to  Miss  Martha  Silsbee, 
Treasurer,  115  Marlborough  Street,  Boston. 

LIST  OF  TEN  PICTURES  PREVIOUSLY  PAID  FOR,  WHICH  WERE  USED  EN  THE  1915  EXHI- 
BITION, AND  WHICH  WERE  LATER  SENT  TO  THE  WASHINGTON  SCHOOL 

Duomo,  Florence. 

Beehive  Geyser,  Yellowstone  Park. 

Grand  Cafion,  Colorado  River,  Arizona. 

Imperial  Courier.     By  Schreyer. 

Frigate  Constitution.    By  Marshall  Johnson . 

Casa  D'Oroa,  Venice. 

The  Goose  Girl.     By  Millet. 

Age  of  Innocence.     By  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 

The  Duke  of  Olivarez.    By  Velasquez. 

Prince  Balthazar.     By  Velasquez.  (Equestrian.) 

LIST  OF  FORTY-TWO  PICTURES  DELIVERED  TO  THE  WASHINGTON  SCHOOL,  SOUTH 
MARGIN  STREET,  BOSTON 

Portrait  of  Charles  I  of  England.     By  A.  Van  Dyck. 

Infanta  Maria  Theresa.     By  Velasquez. 

Woman  Feeding  Chickens.     By  Millet. 

Infanta  Marguerite.     By  Velasquez. 

Group  of  Angels.    Detail  of  painting  by  Beato  Angelica. 

Facade  Notre  Dame  Cathedral,  Paris. 

Sphinx  and  Pyramid,  Egypt. 

King  Arthur  in  Armor,  Innsbruck. 

Pisa,  Church  and  Tower. 

The  Chase.     By  Wouwerman. 

The  Acropolis,  Athens,  Greece. 

The  Queen  of  Chypre.     By  Paolo  Caliari. 

Concord  Bridge  Battleground,  Concord,  Mass. 

Woman  and  Child.    By  Frans  Hals. 

The  Horse  Fair.     By  Rosa  Bonheur. 

Bronze  Horses  on  St.  Mark's  Cathedral,  Venice. 

Knight.  Death  and  Devil.    Engraving  by  Albrecht  Dllrer. 

Feeding  Her  Birds  (Children).    By  Millet. 

A  nut  Hi,  Sicily  (Monk  sitting  in  cloister). 

Longfellow-Craigie  House,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  249 

At  the  Water  Trough.     By  Dagnan-Bouveret. 

Lion.     Sculpture  by  Wappen  Gianfigliazzi. 

Coronation  of  the  Virgin.     By  Botticelli. 

Queen  Isabella  of  Bourbon  (on  White  Horse).     By  Velasquez. 

Assyrian  Marble  Slab,  Hunting  Lions  in  Chariot. 

First  Steps.    By  Millet. 

Cologne  Cathedral. 

Interior  of  Barn.     By  Wouwerman. 

The  Two  Sons  of  the  Painter.     By  Peter  Paul  Rubens. 

Portrait  of  Queen  Marguerite  of  Austria  (on  Black  Horse). 

By  Velaquez. 

Portrait  of  King  Philip  (on  Horseback).     By  Velasquez. 
Madonna  in  Wreath  of  Flowers.     By  Peter  Paul  Rubens. 
Bust  of  Giovanni.     (With  two  cherubim  and  floral  carving.)     By  Delia  Robbia. 
Equestrian  Portrait  of  Charles  XV  on  Battlefield.     By  Vecelli. 
Madonna  and  Rabbit.     By  Tiziano  Vecelli. 
Portrait  of  the  Queen  Maria  Anna.     By  Diego  Velasquez. 
Count  of  Olivarez  (on  Black  Horse).     By  Velasquez. 
Vision  of  Saint  Helen.     By  Paolo  Veronese. 
Portrait  of  the  Child  Charles-Balthazar.     By  Velasquez. 
Portrait  of  King  Philip  IV  (full-length  figure).     By  Velasquez. 
Willem  von  Huythuysen,  Burgher  of  Harlem.    By  Frans  Hals. 
Portrait  of  the  Prince  Don  Balthazar.     (Figure  with  gun  and  dog.)     By  Velasquez. 
SixfromSoule: 

1.  Appian  Way. 

2.  Boats.     By  Clays. 

3.  Houses  of  Parliament. 

4.  Cleopatra's  Terrace  (Yellowstone). 

5.  Rabbits. 

6.  Deer  in  Forest.     Rosa  Bonheur. 
Six  from  Cobb.     Colored  landscapes. 

LIST  OF  FIFTEEN  PICTURES  HUNG  IN  BRIMMER  SCHOOL,  COMMON  STREET 

Feast  of  Officers.    By  Frans  Hals. 

Officers  (Detail).     By  Frans  Hals. 

Portrait  of  a  Young  Woman.     By  Paolo  Veronese. 

Esther  before  Ahasuerus.     By  Paolo  Veronese. 

Moses  Saved  from  the  Water.    By  Paolo  Veronese. 

Madonna  with  Cuccina  Family.     By  Paolo  Veronese. 

Woman  Making  Omelet.     By  Velasquez. 

Reunion  of  Portraits.    By  Velasquez. 

Henrietta  Maria.    By  Van  Dyck. 

Tower  of  London. 

Surf  View. 

Iceberg,  Labrador  Coast. 

Whaling  Vessels. 

Two  colored  landscape  prints. 

PICTURES  IN  THOMAS  N.  HART  SCHOOL,  SOUTH  BOSTON 

Woman  Making  Omelet.     By  Velasquez. 
Madonna  and  Cherubs.    By  L.  della  Robbia. 
Isabella  of  Portugal.    By  Titian. 
Isabella  d'Este.    By  Titian. 


250  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Gondola  and  Ducal  Palace,  Venice. 
Concord  Bridge,  Concord,  Mass. 
Two  colored  landscapes. 

PICTURES  IN  SKINNER  SCHOOL,  CORNER  CHURCH  AND  FATETTB  STREETS,  CONNECTED 
WITH  BRIMMER  SCHOOL 

Woman  Feeding  Hens.     By  J.  F.  Millet. 

Girl  Carrying  Lambs.     By  J.  F.  Millet. 

Don  Carlos  (standing  figure).     By  Velasquez. 

Portrait  Duchess  of  Gloucester  (Child).     By  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 

Sculpture  (Cherubs).     Master  unknown. 

Some  work  of  decoration  has  been  done  in  each  of  the  following  schools : 

Horace  Mann,  Newbury  Street.    Ross  Turner. 

English  High,  Montgomery  Street.     Walter  Gilman  Page. 

Agassiz,  Burroughs  Street,  Jamaica  Plain.    Walter  Gilman  Page. 

Boston  Latin,  Warren  Avenue.     Walter  Gilman  Page. 

Bowdoin,  Myrtle  Street.     Arthur  Astor  Carey. 

Francis  Parkman,  Walk  Hill  Street,  Forest  Hills.    Arthur  Astor  Carey. 

Phillips  Brooks,  Quincy  Street,  Dorchester.    Mrs.  Sarah  W.  Whitman  and    J.     T. 

Coolidge,  Jr. 

Benjamin  Dean,  H.  Street,  South  Boston.    John  Endicott  Peabody . 
Frothingham,  Prospect  Street,  Charlestown.    J.  T.  Coolidge,  Jr. 
East  Boston  High,  Marion  Street,  East  Boston.    John  Endicott  Peabody. 
Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  7th  Street,  South  Boston.     Mrs.  Daniel  Merriman. 
Girls'  High,  West  Newton  Street. 
Rice,  Dartmouth  Street. 


Quincy,  Tyler  Street. 

Lawrence,  B  Street,  South  Boston. 

Washington,  South  Margin  Street. 


Under  direction  of  J.  T.  Coolidge,  Jr. 


President — Mrs.  Winthrop  Sargent. 

Vice-Presidents — Mrs.  Charles  G.  Ames,  Mrs.  Henry  L.  Higginson,  Mrs.  Mary  Mor- 
ton Kehew,  Miss  Ellen  F.  Mason,  Mr.  Arthur  A.  Carey,  Mr.  J.  Templeman  Coolidge, 
Jr.,  Mrs.  J.  Montgomery  Sears,  Mrs.  Paul  Thorndike,  Mrs.  Kate  Gannett  Wells,  Mrs. 
Roger  Wolcott,  Mr.  Joseph  Lee,  Mr.  J.  R.  Coolidge,  Jr. 

Secretary — Mrs.  I.  Tucker  Burr,  90  Marlboro  Street. 

Treasurer — Miss  Martha  Silsbee,  115  Marlboro  Street. 

Executive  Committee — Mr.  James  Mahoney,  Chairman;  Miss  Eleanor  Allen,  Mrs.  I. 
Tucker  Burr,  Mr.  J.  Randolph  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Mr.  J.  T.  Coolidge,  Jr.,  Mrs.  Arthur  H. 
Dakin,  Mrs.  Daniel  Merriman,  Mr.  Henry  D.  Sleeper,  Mrs.  Kate  Gannett  Wells. 


CHAPTER  XII 

POEMS,  EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS  AND  LECTURES 

The  following  address  by  James  Mahoney,  Head  of  the  English 
department  in  the  South  Boston  High  School,  was  the  first  of  the 
series  given  before  the  League  of  Catholic  Women  in  the  new  Cathe- 
dral School,  October  4,  1911: 

THE  ENGLISH  POET'S  DEBT  TO  THE  CHURCH 

What  do  we  of  today  care  about  the  poet,  and  why  should  we 
bother  about  his  debts?  We  of  today  are  practical;  we  are  busy  with 
the  important  concerns  of  life,  with  markets,  stocks,  railroads,  with 
the  home  and  school,  with  industrial  education,  business  education, — 
and  of  course  we  attend  to  our  religious  duties.  This  is  the  first 
thought. 

Quickly  comes  the  second  thought :  In  this  age  we  must  give  full 
value  to  the  material  world  and  to  practical  questions;  still  we  believe 
with  the  sage  that  the  greatest  need  of  this  age  is  poetry.  For  true 
poetry  is  akin  to  religion,  which  puts  practical  matters,  with  all  other 
things,  into  their  proper  scale  in  universal  values. 

The  true  poet  is  he  who  has  deep  visions  of  the  universe  and  of  the 
Creator,  and  who  strives  to  worthily  express  to  others  the  glories  of 
his  vision.  He  who  splendidly  succeeds  in  making  others  share  his 
vision  is  the  great  poet,  and  in  him  the  human  heart  and  brain  perform 
their  highest  function. 

Fourteen  hundred  years  ago,  on  the  hills  near  Whitby,  lived  Caed- 
mon,  a  shepherd  boy.  In  the  servant's  hall,  as  the  harp  was  passed 
about  so  that  each  might  sing  in  turn,  Caedmon  trembled  as  he  saw 
the  harp  approaching  him.  Quickly  he  stole  from  the  hall,  went 
back  to  his  stable,  and  there  he  fell  asleep.  A  stranger  stood  beside 
him  in  his  dream,  and  bade  him  sing. 

"I  cannot  sing,"  said  Caedmon,  "and  therefore  came  I  hither." 

"Sing,"  said  the  stranger;  "sing  of  the  glories  of  creation  and  the 
wonderful  works  of  God." 

Beautiful  verses  came  to  Caedmon's  mind;  he  sang  them  to  the 
servants,  and  then  to  Hilda,  who  was  amazed  at  his  genius.  She  had 
him  thoroughly  trained  in  the  Scriptures;  and,  as  his  imagination 
dwelt  upon  the  Sacred  Story,  he  composed  noble  poems,  which  have 
had  a  permanent  influence  on  the  greater  poets  of  the  English-speaking 
race. 

Those  who  have  deeply  studied  the  fine  arts — painting,  sculpture, 


252  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

music,  and  the  like — find  their  creative  source  in  religion.  My 
thought  is  that  literature  is  also  a  fine  art,  and  that  its  highest  creations 
have  their  source  in  the  religion  of  Christ. 

To  prove  this  claim  with  regard  to  English  poetry,  it  is  necessary  to 
go  back  in  the  history  of  England,  to  the  days  before  there  was  such 
a  thing  as  English  speech.  You  are  all  well  aware  that  the  English 
language  was  nowhere  spoken  on  earth  till  about  eight  hundred  or 
nine  hundred  years  ago;  that  it  was  gradually  formed  by  the  welding 
together  of  various  languages,  particularly  the  Teutonic,  Romance, 
and  Celtic. 

Now  my  proposition  is,  that  there  can  be  no  great  poet  till  there  is 
a  great  language;  that  there  cannot  be  a  great  language  till  there  is  a 
great  people;  that  there  cannot  be  a  great  people  or  a  great  language 
till  there  is  great  intelligence,  great  ideals,  and  great  national 
character. 

And  my  special  theme  is,  that  in  welding  together  the  diverse  racial 
elements  into  the  English  people,  in  the  fusion  of  the  diverse  tongues 
into  the  English  language,  in  the  training  of  crude  barbarians  into 
intelligent  beings,  in  molding  the  mind  and  character  to  the  ideals 
of  Christ,  in  creating  literary  types  and  in  furnishing  literary  inspira- 
tion, the  Church  was  the  dominant  influence. 

If  this  be  so,  the  English  poet,  in  a  very  true  sense,  owes  to  the 
Church  his  language,  his  literary  art,  his  poetic  ideals,  and  his 
inspiration. 

In  the  ponderous  history  of  English  literature  recently  issued  by 
the  great  university  of  Cambridge  in  England,  the  learned  editors 
make  the  following  statement  in  the  first  volume:  "But  in  the  main 
English  literature,  as  we  know  it,  arose  from  the  spirit  inherent  in 
the  Viking  makers  of  England,  before  they  finally  settled  in  this 
island." 

In  other  words,  these  authors  claim  that  it  is  the  pagan  nature  and 
the  Teutonic  blood  of  those  who  settled  in  England  that  has  in  the 
main  produced  what  we  call  English  literature. 

Against  that  proposition  of  blood  and  paganism  I  would  maintain 
the  proposition  which  I  have  already  indicated,  and  I  would  now 
word  it  in  this  way:  In  the  main,  English  poetry  as  we  know  it 
arose  from  the  spirit,  the  intelligence,  the  learning,  and  spiritual 
devotion  of  the  great  churchmen,  who  taught  and  civilized  not  only 
the  Angles,  Saxons,  and  Jutes,  but  also  the  other  races  whose  blood 
was  combined  with  the  Teutonic  blood,  to  produce  what  we  call  the 
English  people,  and  whose  languages  were  to  be  developed  and  com- 
bined with  that  which  we  often  hear  termed  Anglo-Saxon,  in  order  to 
produce  the  magnificent  language  which  we  call  English. 

Let  me  begin  with  a  negative  proof.  In  449  A.D.,  the  Angles, 
Saxons,  and  Jutes  began  to  come  to  England,  which,  during  the  five 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  253 

hundred  years  before  they  came,  had  been  subject  to  the  heavy  rule 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  Quickly  these  fierce  invaders  gained  predom- 
inant influence  over  the  old  Britons,  who  for  all  these  centuries  had 
been  accustomed  to  obey  and  not  to  fight. 

My  first  question  is,  What  had  the  Angles,  Saxons,  and  Jutes 
accomplished  before  they  went  to  England?  Everybody  knows  that 
they  had  accomplished  nothing  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  They 
were  hardy  freebooters,  accustomed  to  a  wild  life,  and  given  to  the 
shedding  of  human  blood.  They  knew  not  even  their  letters  when 
they  went  to  England.  Their  religion  was  a  blind  worship  of  the 
crude  powers  of  Nature.  They  were  indeed  barbarians;  but,  like  all 
members  of  the  Aryan  race,  capable  of  splendid  development,  if  only 
an  influence  capable  of  producing  development  should  appear.  The 
only  art  of  these  Teutons  when  they  came  to  the  island  was  that  of 
war,  and  this  art  they  constantly  plied,  slaughtering  the  old  Britons 
and  each  other,  till  the  missionaries  converted  them  and  taught  them 
a  better  way  of  dealing  with  their  fellowmen. 

From  the  fifth  century  onward,  for  three  hundred  years,  the 
Church,  by  the  admission  of  all,  worked  mightily,  civilizing  these 
tribes;  the  Irish  missionaries  in  the  north  of  England  teaching, 
converting,  and  unifying  the  Angles  of  Northumberland;  while 
Roman  missionaries  in  the  south  did  a  like  work  among  the  Saxons 
and  Jutes. 

The  fierce  wars  between  the  Angles  and  Jutes,  as  well  as  against 
the  Britons  and  Welsh,  gradually  ceased.  Whitby,  Lindisfarne,  and 
Jarrow  in  the  north,  as  well  as  Canterbury  in  the  south,  formed  centres 
not  only  of  piety  and  learning,  but  of  literature  as  well.  Manners 
became  mild,  schools  and  churches  flourished,  and  in  those  great 
churchmen  who  brought  about  these  splendid  results,  kings  found 
their  wisest  counselors  and  their  best  friends. 

An  age  of  peace,  with  vigorous,  stimulating  intelligence  and  high 
ideals,  was  needed  that  great  poets  might  appear.  And  they  did 
appear.  This  is  the  age  of  Caedmon  and  Cynewulf,  the  first  real 
poets  of  England. 

But  soon  across  the  German  ocean  came  new  swarms  of  pagan 
Teutons,  this  time  the  Danes,  and  with  them  for  one  hundred  years 
the  Church  is  struggling  for  its  life.  The  growing  civilization  of 
Northumberland  is  blotted  out,  the  schools  and  monasteries  become 
a  "  mass  of  ashes,  slaked  with  blood."  We  may  well  understand  that 
now  no  great  poems  are  being  composed  in  that  fair  land,  and  we  can 
understand,  too,  why,  somewhat  later,  the  Pope  advocated  the  cause 
of  William,  Duke  of  Normandy,  in  his  claims  on  England.  William 
conquered  England,  and  the  Norman  rule,  then  established,  in  a  true 
sense  continues  to  the  present  hour. 

With  William  and  his  Norman  Frenchmen  came  in  a  new  type  of 


254  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

literary  influence,  which,  in  its  turn,  had  been  fostered  and  developed 
in  the  schools  of  the  Church. 

Thus  far  it  is  very  clear  that  the  pagan  and  Teuton  influence  tended 
only  to  the  destruction  of  civilization,  and  not  to  the  upbuilding  of 
anything,  least  of  all  of  that  finest  product  of  civilization, — a  noble 
literature. 

Please  note  that  it  was  the  Normans  who  gave  England  her  first 
unified,  well-established  government,  with  a  well-administered  sys- 
tem of  laws.  The  law  of  the  Normans  was  Roman  law;  their  skill 
in  administration  was  derived  from  Rome.  This  stable  government 
thus  established  was  one  of  the  strongest  influences  in  producing  a 
great  nation,  a  truly  great  people,  and  in  making  a  great  literature 
possible.  Here,  again,  the  beneficent  work  of  the  Church  becomes 
apparent.  Preachers  teaching  the  law  of  brotherly  love  softened 
the  bitter  hostility  between  the  Norman  conquerors  and  the  despised 
Saxons.  They  thus  helped  to  preserve  the  best  elements  in  the  genius 
and  nature  of  the  different  peoples,  which  under  this  benign  influence 
were  being  welded  into  one. 

Well  for  us,  indeed,  it  is  that  we  have  the  Teutonic  element  in  the 
language, — homely,  strong,  and  forceful;  capable  of  expressing  deep 
truth  and  religious  sincerity;  but  it  was  the  Church  that  saved  it 
and  developed  it. 

Under  the  Norman  rulers,  French  was  long  the  dominant  tongue, 
and  French  literary  art  and  French  ideas  were  now  creative  in  the 
new  language,  which,  in  part  Saxon,  in  part  French,  in  part  Celtic, 
and  with  elements  borrowed  from  every  speech  under  heaven,  was 
gradually  coming  into  being, — the  newly  formed  English  language. 
The  very  existence  of  this  new  language,  the  lingua  franca,  proves 
that  civil  relations  had  come  to  be  established  between  the  bitter 
enemies;  and,  as  I  have  said,  this,  to  a  large  degree,  was  the  work  of 
the  Church. 

Literary  material  must  be  supplied  and  long  experience  in  its  use 
obtained  before  any  great  poetry  is  possible.  Now,  English  literature 
in  its  development  rests  upon  the  old  chronicles,  translations,  and 
literary  models.  This  literary  material  was  exclusively  the  work  of 
churchmen :  for  the  most  part,  monks  in  their  cells.  The  translations 
were  made  either  by  churchmen  or  their  pupils,  and  the  literary 
models  were  Italian,  French,  Greek,  and  Roman. 

The  Italian  influence  comes  chiefly  from  Dante,  Petrarch,  Boccaccio 
Ariosto,  and  Tasso.  The  slightest  acquaintance  with  these  authors 
shows  that  their  inspiration  is  from  the  Church. 

The  French  influence  on  English  literature  began  with  the  Normans 
and  has  never  ceased.  Sometimes  it  is  great  and  noble;  sometimes 
it  is  not.  When  best,  it  is  Catholic;  when  worst,  it  is  pagan. 

The  Greek  and  Roman  models  were  indeed  pagan,  but  from  the 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  255 

beauty  of  their  style,  the  splendor  of  their  language,  their  influence 
has  been  most  potent  in  English  poetry,  and  all  admit  that  it  was  the 
monks  copying  these  works  in  their  cells  who  preserved  these  master- 
pieces of  style,  not  only  for  English  literature  but  for  all  the  modern 
world.  Literary  form  and  style  has  thus  come  through  Church 
agencies  into  the  English  language.  This  includes  as  well  the  science 
and  art  of  poetics  as  the  skill  which  makes  a  language  clear  and  strong 
in  prose. 

As  for  the  poetic  art, — no  one  acquainted  with  old  Saxon  poetry  can 
fail  to  recognize  that  without  foreign  influence  it  could  never  have 
developed  a  high  degree  of  poetic  merit. 

The  stoutest  advocates  of  the  blood  theory  innocently  express  this 
fact  in  their  learned  works.  Alliteration,  on  which  the  Saxons  chiefly 
relied  to  distinguish  their  poetry  from  their  prose,  so  fettered  the 
poets  that  a  great  poem  could  hardly  be  produced  where  the  poet  had 
no  other  poetic  resource. 

"Piers  Plowman  "  is  a  good  illustration  of  the  point  I  make.  Metre 
and  rhyme,  essential  elements  of  English  poetry,  came  to  the  English 
language  from  Italian,  French,  and  classic  sources. 

But  blood  and  language  do  not  of  themselves  produce  literature. 
The  Patagonians  have  blood  and  language,  but  they  have  no  literature. 
Inherent  in  all  great  poetry  is  a  character  and  spirit  which  is  the 
creative  power  within  it  and  which  alone  makes  a  work  of  fine  art. 
This  character  and  spirit  in  the  English  language  is  radically  and 
emphatically  derived  from  the  teaching  and  doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  working  through  the  complex  nature  of  the  diverse  peoples 
that  had  been  molded  into  one  nation. 

This  character  and  this  spirit  has  been  infused  into  the  noblest 
souls  of  the  English-speaking  race;  in  fact,  it  is  the  deepest  and  noblest 
quality  in  the  character  of  English-speaking  people,  and  has  been 
made  manifest  in  her  truest  sons  in  all  ages  down  to  the  present 
century.  In  every  country  its  dominant  note  has  been  sounded  by 
the  greatest  poets. 

The  essence  of  this  spirit  is  best  expressed  in  the  words  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  in  the  Highest  Law  of  God, 
as  expressed  in  the  words  of  Christ.  For  one  thousand  years,  from 
the  fifth  to  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  Golden  Rule  of  Christ,  were  taught  by  the  lips,  lived 
in  the  lives,  and  sanctified  by  the  deaths  of  the  noble  Christian  mis- 
sionaries and  their  disciples  who  did  the  work  of  their  Master  in  the 
British  Isles. 

So  thoroughly  was  this  teaching  done  that  the  religious  element 
and  the  very  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  became  the  deepest  and 
strongest  strain  in  the  highest  type  of  English  character,  showing 
itself  in  her  greatest  and  noblest  men  and  in  the  finest  work  of  her 
finest  poets. 


256  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

It  matters  not  for  the  purpose  of  this  analysis  whether  the  individual 
poet  called  himself  Catholic,  Protestant,  or  even,  in  strange  instances, 
by  the  name  of  atheist.  Deeper  than  logic,  profounder  than  personal 
consciousness,  deeper  than  all  racial  feeling,  lie  these  religious  ideas 
and  sentiments;  for  they  were  fused  into  the  very  structure  of  the 
people  itself  when  their  character  and  nature  were  being  molded  and 
fixed. 

To  prove  that  this  is  so,  let  us  analyze  the  greatest  works  of  the 
greatest  poets  of  English  history,  testing  these  works  by  the  concep- 
tions of  nature,  of  man  and  of  God,  which  the  Church  has  ever  taught 
in  the  Apostles'  Creed  and  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

^Yhat  is  it  that  these  divine  classics  of  the  Church  actually  teach? 
Do  they  teach  that  the  entire  universe  consists  of  dead  matter  and 
blind  force,  and  that  man  is  but  a  strange  product  of  these,  and  that 
at  death  he  is  resolved  into  them  again?  No,  surely;  and  were  these 
the  conceptions  taught  to  the  growing  English  race,  English  poetry 
would  have  been  as  dead  as  this  conception  of  the  universe  and  life. 
I  have  made  a  crude  attempt  to  state  what  those  venerable  words  of 
the  Church  do  actually  teach: 

Belief  that  there  is  a  Supreme  Being; 

That  He  is  a  living,  personal  God; 

That  He  has  created  everything  that  exists;  and  yet  that 

He  is  our  good  Father,  Who  knows  us  and  loves  us; 

That  Christ  is  His  Son; 

That  Christ's  birth  was  holy; 

That  He  taught  peace  and  love  to  all  mankind; 

That  He  gave  the  most  noble  example  of  love  in  a  death  of  torture 
for  mankind; 

That  it  is  possible  for  us  to  overcome  sin  and  death,  because  He  rose 
again  from  the  dead; 

That  He  returned  to  the  throne  of  God; 

That  He  will  come  again  to  judge  all  human  beings  by  the  law  of 
love  which  He  taught  mankind; 

A  belief  in  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  which  regenerates  the  souls  of 
men  who  permit  the  grace  of  God  to  enter  their  hearts; 

A  belief  that  God  Himself  established  His  Church  on  earth; 

That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  teach  till  the  end  of  time  the 
doctrines  of  Christ; 

That  God  forgives  the  sins  of  repentant  souls; 

That  God  will  raise  our  bodies  again  from  the  dust; 

That  our  souls  are  immortal  souls; 

That  it  is  man's  duty  to  pray  to  God  as  to  a  loving  Father; 

That  if  we  show  devotion  and  love,  we  may  hope  for  God's  grace 
to  keep  us  from  sin. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  257 

Now,  summarizing  these  doctrines,  we  find:  First,  the  Catholic 
conception  of  God  as  Creator,  Redeemer,  loving  Father,  Love  itself. 
Second,  all  men  as  created  in  the  image  of  God,  children  of  God; 
hence,  brothers;  the  true  basis  of  a  real  world  democracy.  Third, 
sin  as  disobedience  to  the  law  of  a  loving  God,  and  the  consequent 
need  of  atonement.  All  living  creatures  as  creatures  of  God,  and 
the  earth  and  the  heavens  as  the  dwelling  place  of  the  Eternal.  I 
now  assert  that  these  fundamental  conceptions,  as  always  taught  by 
the  Catholic  Church,  are  the  fundamental  conceptions  in  the  greatest 
works  of  the  greatest  authors  in  all  ages  of  English  literature,  and  that 
the  poets  obtained  these  conceptions  from  the  Church  itself. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  so  called.  The  task  here 
is  easy.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Normans,  there  is  not  a 
shred  of  writing,  literary  or  otherwise,  which  is  not  the  writing  of  a 
churchman. 

Let  us  consider  some  of  the  more  famous  works :  Beowulf  is  often 
spoken  of  as  the  pure  product  of  paganism,  but  whatever  pagan  ele- 
ments there  are  in  it,  it  is  certainly  true  that  there  are  also  Christian 
elements  in  it;  and,  of  course,  it  was  a  Christian  scholar  who  put  it 
into  its  present  shape,  and  of  course  it  was  the  Church  that  preserved 
it,  for  she  was  the  only  guardian  of  learning  and  of  books. 

The  Exeter  Book,  practically  a  summary  of  all  Anglo-Saxon  poetry 
up  to  the  tenth  century,  was  the  gift  of  Bishop  Leofric,  first  bishop  of 
Exeter,  to  the  Cathedral  library.  The  titles  in  the  index  furnish 
almost  sufficient  evidence  of  the  source  of  these  poems :  The  Nativity; 
To  Christ;  To  the  Virgin  Mary;  The  Soul's  Address  to  the  Body;  etc. 
Catholic  in  subject  and  in  theme,  almost  from  beginning  to  end. 

With  the  Normans  came  in  lighter  love  songs  and  the  like,  but  all 
their  greater  works  were  religious  in  nature.  This  was  the  great 
period  of  the  chronicles,  the  mystery,  miracle  and  morality  plays, 
which  continued  down  to  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  laid  the  foundation  for 
dramatic  literature  in  England,  and  made  a  Shakespeare  possible. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  those  are  the  works  of  Catholic 
clergymen. 

We  now  approach  the  age  of  Chaucer.  With  him  begins  English 
literature,  properly  speaking.  The  thousand  years  that  precede 
Chaucer  are  years  of  preparation.  The  English  people  was  in  process 
of  creation,  and  the  elements  of  the  English  language  and  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  poetic  art  were  being  slowly  developed;  but  in  Chaucer 
we  have  a  poet  of  high  rank.  Some  of  his  poems  are  often  quoted  to 
prove  that  he  was  hostile  to  the  Church.  I  believe  a  more  careful 
reading  of  his  poems  will  show  that  his  criticism  is  directed  not  against 
the  Church  but  against  false  men,  who  would  use  the  influence  of  the 
Church  for  their  personal  gain. 

As  for  his  conceptions  of  true  religion,  where  can  one  find  a  nobler 

18 


258  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

tribute  to  the  parish  priest  than  in  his  account  of  the  Persoun  of  a 
Toun?  Shallow  scholars  used  to  translate  "persoun"  by  the  word 
"parson,"  but  Skeat  and  other  leading  students  of  Chaucer,  show  that 
"persoun"  means,  of  course,  "parish  priest." 

What  sensible  person  could  suppose  that  they  had  "parsons"  in 
those  days?  But  whatever  may  be  the  interpretation  of  Chaucer's 
poems,  we  must  not  forget  that  his  poetic  inspiration  is  chiefly  bor- 
rowed from  Italy,  that  his  master  was  Boccaccio,  and  Boccaccio's 
inspiration  proceeds  from  Dante,  whose  poems,  I  think,  might  be 
defined  as  Saint  Thomas'  "Summa,"  that  is  to  say,  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church,  set  to  music. 

Contemporary  with  Chaucer  were  William  Langland  and  "Ancient" 
Gower. 

Langland's  Piers  Plowman  is  often  cited  as  a  criticism  of  the  Church 
but  those  who  make  the  statement  forget  that  all  he  knew  he  got  from 
the  Church;  that  he  had  himself  taken  minor  orders,  and  that  the 
Piers  Plowman  is  his  humble  attempt  to  show  how  Christ  would  judge 
the  earth  were  He  to  come  again. 

Gower's  great  poem  in  English  is  the  Confessio  Amantis.  I  need 
hardly  say  more  about  this  than  to  mention  the  fact  that  it  is  a  long 
poetic  treatise  on  the  seven  deadly  sins.  Where  do  you  suppose  he 
got  that? 

Sir  Thomas  Mallory's  Morte  a" 'Arthur,  according  to  the  British 
Encyclopedia, — surely  an  authority  which  would  not  unduly  favor 
the  Church — has  had  greater  literary  influence  on  English  prose  and 
poetry  than  any  other  single  work,  save  the  Bible  alone.  Any  one 
who  is  familiar  with  this  work  is  well  aware  that  its  substance  is  the 
doctrine  and  ritual  of  the  Church,  treated  with  a  mystic  tinge  and 
poetic  colors  by  brilliant  Celtic  genius. 

You  are  also  well  aware  that  to  Tennyson  it  was  the  most  fascinat- 
ing of  all  subjects;  that  for  fifty  years  he  was  ever  pondering  upon 
it,  and  that  his  Idyls  of  the  King  is  but  the  poetic  version  of  it. 

As  we  approach  the  age  of  Elizabeth,  we  find  the  Italian  influence 
becoming  stronger,  appearing  especially  in  the  work  of  Wyatt  and 
Surrey,  Lyly  and  Sidney.  The  Italian  influence  is  at  its  greatest  in 
Edmund  Spenser,  the  great  poet  of  the  The  Faerie  Queene.  This 
work, — The  Faerie  Queene — is  often  instanced  in  proof  of  Spenser's 
deep  hostility  to  the  Church,  but  it  is  of  little  consequence  in  this 
connection  what  Spenser's  intention  may  have  been,  for  the  poem 
itself  reveals  the  influence  of  the  Church  in  every  page.  So  freely 
had  he  availed  himself  of  its  treasures  that  many  of  the  pages  of  the 
Faerie  Queene  are  little  more  than  translations  of  the  Italian  poet 
Ariosto. 

But  putting  Spenser  aside,  the  age  of  Elizabeth  is  pre-eminently 
the  age  of  dramatic  poetry.  I  have  already  shown  how  dramatic 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  259 

literature  had  been  developed  in  extraordinary  degree  among  the 
English  people  by  the  miracle,  mystery,  and  morality  plays,  which 
issued  directly  from  the  resources  of  the  Church. 

From  the  earliest  ages,  the  teachers  of  the  Church  had  employed 
the  play  as  a  realistic  means  of  teaching  the  common  people  the  stories 
and  truths  of  Scripture.  The  galaxy  of  dramatic  stars  which  crowned 
the  age  of  Elizabeth  seems  almost  superhuman;  indeed,  when  we 
speak  of  the  immortal  Shakespeare,  we  commonly  think  of  him  as  a 
being  unique,  original,  and  unaffected  by  aught  save  his  own  supreme 
genius. 

A  closer  study  shows  that  each  of  these  dramatic  authors  is  not  only 
a  product  of  his  own  age,  but  that  he  is  a  true  son  of  the  literary  ages 
which  preceded  him.  This  statement  applies  to  William  Shakespeare 
as  truly  as  to  any  other  member  of  the  immortal  group  which  includes 
the  great  names  of  Webster,  Peele,  Greene,  Kyd,  Marlowe,  Beau- 
mont, and  Fletcher. 

Let  us  consider  in  what  way  the  influence  of  the  Church  directly 
affected  the  life  and  writing  of  this  greatest  of  all  literary  masters. 
First,  I  believe  he  owed  the  Church  something  in  his  very  blood.  The 
best  critics  are  agreed  that  in  the  blood  of  Shakespeare  there  was  an 
unusually  large  Celtic  element;  that  his  genius  was  Celtic  rather 
than  Teutonic.  His  birthplace  at  Stratford-on-Avon  was  in  that 
part  of  England  where  the  Teutons  and  Celts  mingled  with  least 
bitterness,  and  the  amity  between  them  is  due,  as  I  think  it  can  be 
shown,  very  largely  to  the  doctrine  of  peace  and  good  will  taught  by 
the  Church. 

Furthermore,  the  Celtic  strain  in  his  blood,  developing  into  the 
supreme  Celtic  quality  in  his  genius,  came  forth  by  the  magic  wand 
of  that  Christian  power  which  raised  the  Celtic  stock  from  petty 
warfare  to  noble  conceptions  of  life  and  to  intellectual  power.  Further- 
more, Shakespeare  like  all  other  writers,  had  to  make  use  of  literary 
material,  chronicles,  translations,  legends, — and  I  have  already 
shown  the  source  of  these. 

We  often  hear  of  Shakespeare's  work  as  ignoring  morality  and 
religion.  A  more  shallow  criticism  never  issued  from  a  shallow  brain. 
His  writings  are  saturated  with  religious  conceptions.  Let  me  quote 
passages  giving  Shakespeare's  conception  of  Sin: 

"Heaven  forgive  my  sins  at  the  day  of  judgment." 

—  Merry  Wives  of  Windsor,  III,  3. 

"Even  that  falsehood  in  itself  is  sin.     It  thus  purifies  itself  and 

turns  to  grace."  — Ibid,  V,  2. 

"Thy  manners  must  be  wicked,  and  wickedness  is  sin,  and  sin  is 

damnation."  —  As  You  Like  It,  III,  2. 

"Self-love  which  is  the  most  inhibited  sin  in  the  Canon." 

—  AWs  Well  that  Ends  Well,  I,  1. 


260  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

"I  would  not  have  you  think  that  my  desire  of  having  is  the  sin  of 
covetousness."  —  Twelfth  Night,  V,  1. 

"God  forgive  the  sins  of  all  these  souls."  —  King  John,  II,  1. 

"I  am  stifled  with  the  smell  of  sin."  —  King  John,  IV,  3. 
"Oh,  God,  defend  my  soul  from  such  deep  sin." 
"Foul  sin  gathering  head  shall  break  into  corruption." 

—  Richard  II,  II,  1,  5. 
"Is  in  your  conscience  washed  as  pure  as  sin  in  baptism." 

-  Henry  V,  I. 
"Sins  such  as  by  God's  Book  are  adjudged  to  death." 

-  2nd  Henry  VI,  II. 

"  Wert  to  renounce  his  baptism,  all  seals  and  symbols  of  his  redeemed 
sin."  —  Othello,  II,  3. 

Something  of  Shakespeare's  conception  of  the  doctrine  of  Immortal- 
ity may  be  derived  from  the  following  passages,  hastily  selected: — 

"Such  harmony  is  in  immortal  souls." 

—  Merchant  of  Venice,  I,  1. 
"  I  hold  you  as  a  thing  enskyed  and  sainted  by  your  renouncement, 

an  immortal  spirit."  —  2nd  Henry  IV,  II. 

"Her  body  sleeps  in  Capel's  monument  and  her  immortal  part 

with  angels  lives."  —  Romeo  and  Juliet,  V,  1. 

"For  my  soul  what  can  it  do  to  that,  being  a  thing  immortal  as 

itself."  —Hamlet,  I,  4. 

"I  have  lost  the  immortal  part  of  myself  and  what  remains  is 

bestial."  —  Othello,  II,  3. 

Something  of  his  idea  of  Saints  may  be  judged  from  these: 

"And  is  she  not  a  heavenly  saint?" 

—  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  II,  4. 
"To  be  talked  with  in  sincerity  as  with  a  saint." 

—  Measure  for  Measure,  I,  4. 
"  I  conjure  you  by  all  the  saints  in  heaven." 

—  Comedy  of  Errors,  IV,  4. 
"The  prayers  of  holy  saints  and  wronged  souls  like  highreared 

bulwarks."  —  Richard  III,  V. 

"She  kneeled  and  saint-like  raised  her  fair  eyes  to  heaven  and 
prayed  devoutedly."  —  Henry  VIII,  IV. 

His  reverent  thoughts  of  Christ  may  be  seen  in  these: 
"Fought  for  Jesu  Christ  in  glorious  Christian  field." 

—  Richard  II,  IV,  1. 
"And  his  pure  soul  unto  his  Captain,  Christ."  —  Ibid. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  261 

"As  far  as  to  the  sepulchre  of  Christ."  —  Henry  IV,  I,  1. 

"Through  all  the  kingdoms  that  acknowledge  Christ." 

-  Ibid,  III,  2. 

"Christ's  mother  helps  me,  else  I  were  too  weak." 

-  1st  Henry  VI,  I,  2. 
"As  you  hope  to  have  redemption  by  Christ's  dear  blood." 

-  Richard  III,  I,  4. 
"By  Christ's  dear  blood  shed  for  our  grievous  sins." 

-  Richard  III,  I. 
"And  effaced  the  precious  image  of  our  Redeemer." 

-  Richard  III,  II. 
"The  world's  ransom,  blessed  Mary's  Son."  —  Ibid. 

As  for  the  name  of  God,  as  reverently  used  in  Shakespeare,  enough 
quotations  could  be  quickly  culled  to  fill  a  good-sized  volume.  The 
quotations  thus  hastily  gathered,  which  I  have  given,  I  think  suffice 
to  show  that  Shakespeare  is  by  no  means  lacking  in  Catholic  con- 
ceptions. 

But  a  deeper  analysis  of  Shakespeare's  works  will  show  a  greater 
debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Alma  Mater  of  English  literature.  Such  an 
analysis  will  reveal  that  the  greatest  of  Shakespeare's  plays  are  morality 
plays,  most  skilfully  illustrating  the  principles  of  the  older  morality 
play  writers  in  the  development  of  character.  It  is  generally  conceded 
that  Shakespeare's  greatest  works  are  Othello,  Lear,  Macbeth,  and 
Hamlet.  Let  us  analyze  these. 

Othello  is  a  profound  study  of  the  passions  of  love  and  revenge  in 
the  Moor,  of  hate  and  revenge  in  lago,  and  of  bestial  gluttony  in 
Cassio.  The  old  writers  on  the  seven  deadly  sins  could  not  preach 
more  powerfully  upon  these  passions. 

King  Lear  is  a  study  of  vanity  and  covetousness,  particularly  of 
covetousness,  filling  the  soul,  narrowing  the  heart,  narrowing  the 
intellect,  destroying  sense  of  obligation  and  sense  of  duty — these 
members  of  the  seven  deadly  group  are  here  powerfully  illustrated. 

Macbeth  is  a  study  of  covetousness  for  another's  honors  and  position, 
hardening  the  will,  stealing  the  intellect,  destroying  all  the  gentle 
impulses  of  the  soul,  and  leading  to  dust  and  ashes. 

In  Hamlet  covetousness  for  the  king's  throne  and  for  his  royal  wife 
led  Hamlet's  uncle  to  murder  Hamlet's  father;  and  the  burden  of 
revenge,  another  deadly  sin,  is  laid  upon  the  noble  soul  of  Prince 
Hamlet,  a  burden  almost  too  great  for  his  gentle  heart  and  mind. 
All  human  reason, — the  counsel  of  his  father's  ghost,  the  dear  remem- 
brance of  his  murdered  father, — all  urge  him  to  revenge.  Conceptions 
of  life,  of  death,  of  God,  and  the  universe,  surge  through  the  brain  of 
the  troubled  youth,  and  he  can  hardly  bring  himself  to  the  execution 


262  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

of  his  sworn  revenge.  A  more  terrific  study  of  this  most  deadly  of 
the  seven  deadly  group  seems  hardly  possible  to  man. 

Were  there  time  to  consider  the  other  plays  of  Shakespeare,  I 
believe  that  the  greater  ones  would  bear  similar  analysis. 

But,  says  the  critic,  in  John  Milton  we  clearly  have  an  author  of 
the  first  magnitude,  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
without  obligation  to  it.  But  this  statement  will  not  bear  analysis. 
His  poems,  both  minor  and  major,  from  beginning  to  end,  indicate 
his  debt.  L' 'Allegro  and  //  Penseroso  give  a  beautiful  contrast 
between  the  shallow  life  of  the  senses  and  the  deep  religious  life  spent 
even  in  a  monk's  cell,  with  the  hairy  gown,  contemplating  the  works 
of  God;  Lycidas  gives  splendidly  the  Church  doctrine  of  immortality; 
Comus  is  a  poetic  treatise  on  chastity — ever  demanded  by  the  Church; 
Paradise  Lost  and  Paradise  Regained  in  their  very  titles  indicate  their 
origin,  and  in  the  former  it  seems  most  probable  that  Milton  was 
under  obligation  to  the  shepherd  Caedmon,  who  wrote  the  Fall  of 
Man. 

The  Hymn  of  Christ's  Nativity  is  a  most  splendid  expression  of  our 
Church  doctrine. 

We  need  not  linger  long  over  the  writings  of  the  greatest  poets 
which  follow  Milton  in  the  period  of  the  Restoration  and  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne.  Their  names  are,  of  course,  Dryden  and  Pope.  They 
were  both  Catholics,  but  I  have  never  been  able  to  convince  myself 
that  in  them  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church  have  received  their 
deepest  interpretation  or  their  best  poetic  form. 

Wordsworth's  conception  of  Nature  furnishes  probably  his  greatest 
poetic  charm;  and  what  is  his  conception  of  Nature?  It  is  that  the 
universe  is  the  living  garment  of  God.  Some  of  his  shorter  and 
better-known  poems  express  quaintly  and  beautifully  the  belief  in 
the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

Coleridge  is  certainly  one  of  the  greatest  poetic  geniuses,  and  you 
will  agree,  I  think,  that  his  greatest  poem  is  The  Ancient  Mariner. 
What  is  the  interpretation  of  that  poem?  It  is  that  sin  is  the  violation 
of  God's  law  of  love  and  of  obedience  to  His  command;  that  when 
the  soul  is  stained  with  sin,  the  entire  universe  becomes  putrid,  and 
in  it  the  sinner  himself  is  the  most  loathsome  thing  of  all.  Regenera- 
tion begins  within  him  when,  by  the  grace  of  God,  he  can  bless  God's 
creatures,  he  becomes  filled  with  a  deep  sense  of  sorrow  and  contrition 
for  his  sin,  and  then  by  the  sacraments  of  the  Church,  he  becomes 
cleansed  and  healed  again. 

Of  the  poets  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Tennyson,  I  believe,  will 
continue  to  hold  highest  rank.  His  greatest  works  are  In  Memoriam 
and  the  Idyls  of  the  King.  His  In  Memoriam  is  an  elaborate  explana- 
tion of  how  the  life,  death,  and  resurrection  of  the  Saviour  is  our  only 
solace  in  the  death  of  a  friend.  Of  his  Idyls  of  the  King  I  have  already 
spoken. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  263 

Cardinal  Newman  justly  ranks  among  the  finest  masters  of  English 
style.  He  is  a  true  poet,  too.  His  hymn,  Lead,  Kindly  Light,  surely 
entitles  him  to  such  rank.  And  surely  Cardinal  Newman  would  not 
deny  the  source  of  his  inspiration. 

Of  the  lesser  poets,  we  might  say  much,  but  perhaps  here  it  will 
suffice  to  say 

"Hither,  as  to  a  fountain,  other  stars  repairing, 
In  their  urns,  draw  golden  light." 

Not  blood,  then,  nor  paganism  of  certain  Teutonic  tribes,  but  the 
spirit  of  God,  as  revealed  in  the  teaching  of  the  Church  and  in  the 
noble  lives  of  her  saints,  scholars,  and  martyrs,  has  been  the  potent 
influence  in  the  development  of  English  poetry  through  the  centuries. 
Race  and  blood  are,  indeed,  mighty  in  history;  but  it  was  the  Church 
that  was  the  preserver  of  races  and  of  bloods,  and  the  developer  of 
national  genius  and  national  languages,  not  alone  through  the  training 
of  the  intellect,  but  especially  through  the  development  of  conscience 
and  by  the  doctrine  of  love. 

Race  is,  indeed,  a  mighty  word, — but  the  conception  of  humanity 
as  a  confraternity  of  brothers,  inspired  by  the  love  of  God  who  created 
them,  cooperating  in  all  good  work  for  the  love  of  God,  preaching 
God's  praises  in  noble  works  of  prose,  or  singing  His  praises  in  immor- 
tal works  of  verse,  is  a  far  grander  and  more  powerful  conception. 

Even  the  secular  history  of  the  world  shows  that  this  is  true.  It  is 
neither  right  nor  wise  nor  yet  prudent  to  despise  any  of  God's  crea- 
tures, be  they  white  or  black  or  brown;  be  they  Saxon,  Celt,  or 
Mongolian. 

The  wrhite  Russian  learned  to  respect  the  little  brown  man  of  Japan 
when  he  met  him  in  the  whirling  storms  of  battle  on  the  plains  of 
Mukden;  and  the  Englishman  felt  no  racial  contempt  for  Germans, 
Scotch,  and  Irish,  who  broke  the  charges  of  the  Old  Guard  on  the 
field  of  Waterloo. 

But  in  a  higher  realm  than  politics  or  war,  the  poets  of  English 
literature  are  preaching  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  especially, 
in  the  words  of  Tennyson,  that  far-off  divine  event  to  which  the  whole 
creation  moves. 

THE  SCHOOL  OF  TO-DAY 

I  went  into  the  club-house  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Association  in 
Boston  the  other  day,  and  found  that  the  heat  had  driven  away  every- 
body but  Mr.  Hammond,  a  retired  business  man.  He  was  glad  to 
see  me,  as  he  is  a  famous  talker.  He  threw  his  leg  over  the  arm  of  his 
chair,  and  began  to  tell  me  of  his  early  life.  It  appeared  that  he  was 
fonder  of  fishing  than  of  schooling  when  he  was  a  boy;  and  yet  from  a 
poor  boy  in  Vermont  he  became  a  prosperous  shipbuilder  in  Boston. 


264  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

"Why,"  said  he,  "I  was  so  ignorant  when  I  came  to  Boston  I  had  to 
stop  to  spell  out  the  words."  "How  was  it  you  succeeded?"  I 
asked.  "Well,"  said  he,  "I  had  a  will  to  do  anything."  His  reply 
seemed  sensible.  Surely  he  did  not  succeed  because  he  could  not  read 
well.  Men  like  Mr.  Hammond, — as  a  rule  aged  men — are  not  alto- 
gether rare  in  America.  With  little  education  they  have  succeeded 
in  business,  and  they  feel  that  education  may  be  very  proper,  but  that 
it  is  not  very  serviceable.  And  from  their  point  of  view  there  was 
reason  in  their  opinion,  distorted  to  be  sure.  The  older  education  was 
chiefly  a  means  to  supply  the  professions.  Doctors,  lawyers,  minis- 
ters and  school  teachers  were,  of  course,  needed;  but  everybody 
could  not  belong  to  the  professions.  The  mass  of  the  people  would 
have  to  depend  on  other  things  for  a  livelihood. 

What  could  the  public  schools  do  for  that  great  public,  which  has 
but  little  taste  for  medicine,  theology,  or  pedagogies?  How  could 
the  young  people  be  trained  so  as  to  serve  themselves  and  their  fellow- 
men  better?  An  attempt  to  answer  this  question  is  revolutionizing 
both  the  objects  and  methods  of  teaching  in  the  United  States.  The 
active  majority  in  this  country  have  always  believed  that  some  form 
of  education  could  be  made  of  great  service;  and  have  continued  to 
support  their  belief  by  a  yearly  expenditure  of  millions  of  dollars. 
This  modern  spirit  of  utility  is  changing  the  entire  machinery  of  edu- 
cation— school  committees,  superintendents,  teachers,  school-houses, 
even,  as  well  as  the  courses  of  study.  School  committees,  realizing 
the  need  of  having  some  one,  skilled  person,  to  give  all  his  attention 
to  school  management,  generally  employ  a  superintendent.  He  is  a 
modern  invention.  As  a  rule  he  is  an  expert,  and  is  expected  to 
familiarize  himself  with  the  most  advanced  methods  here  and  abroad; 
and  to  inspire  his  teachers  with  enthusiasm.  The  teachers,  too,  are  in 
the  forward  movement.  With  no  disrespect  for  any  teacher  of  the 
past,  it  can  be  safely  stated  that  the  average  teacher  is  now  better 
fitted  for  the  work.  The  large  number  of  normal  schools,  and  special 
training  schools,  is  a  proof  of  progress.  Teaching  is  no  longer  a  win- 
ter makeshift  for  young  statesmen;  the  majority  of  the  male  teachers 
of  the  country  have  chosen  it  as  their  life  work.  The  increasing 
security  of  position  in  all  the  better  communities  warrant  them  in 
doing  this,  and  to  that  degree,  stability  and. efficiency  are  added  to 
the  teaching  force. 

The  home  of  education,  the  schoolhouse  of  to-day,  is  another 
proof  of  progress  in  its  very  construction.  The  small  class-rooms, — 
no  longer  permitting  ninety  pupils  to  a  single  teacher, — the  con- 
venient laboratories,  all  well  heated,  lighted  and  ventilated,  are  an 
advance  beyond  the  little  red  schoolhouse  on  the  hillside;  and  also 
beyond  the  big  but  badly  planned  structure  that  came  after  it.  But 
it  is  particularly  in  the  course  of  study  that  the  spirit  of  the  time  is 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  265 

shown.  This  country's  advantage  consists  in  her  great  natural 
resources.  To  teach  how  these  may  be  utilized  is  more  and  more  the 
object  of  the  newer  education.  Hence  have  arisen  manual  training 
schools,  institutes  of  technology,  industrial  and  trade  schools,  busi- 
ness colleges  as  well  as  the  increased  attention  to  natural  history  and 
science  in  the  regular  curriculum. 

The  attitude  toward  the  pupil  has  also  changed.  To  take  his 
place  among  the  manifold  activities  of  the  time,  each  must  hold  his 
natural  bias  at  its  best.  The  path  of  the  scholar  is  freer,  and  more 
inspiring,  and  the  rod  holds  a  modest  place  in  the  background.  The 
juster  education  of  woman,  too,  is  a  growth  of  these  recent  years. 
"Let  her  use  her  talent  too  in  every  way  she  can,"  is  the  bidding  of 
the  newer  education.  Thus  higher  possibilities  are  opening  up  before 
the  youth  of  America,  but  there  is  danger,  too.  The  little  red  school- 
house  produced  men,  at  least.  May  the  newer  education  of  to-day 
produce  nothing  less  noble. 

THE  CHURCH  1789-93 

With  Special  Reference  to  the  Question,  "Did  the  Development  of  the 
Civil  Constitution  Influence  the  Church  Organization?" 

It  is  clear  that  to  answer  this  question  it  is  necessary  to  answer 
much  more.  That  there  was  such  an  influence  might  be  probable, 
but  it  is  improbable  that  it  was  the  only  influence  and  to  understand 
its  nature  it  is  necessary  to  understand  the  forces  at  work  and  their 
conditions;  i.  e.,  it  is  necessary  to  know  religious  conditions  of  the 
country  at  that  time,  and  something  of  its  pioneer  church  history. 

First  of  all  we  must  remember  that  those  who  made  this  country 
what  it  became  were  patient  with  the  wilderness  that  they  might  have 
freedom  of  conscience  and  religion. 

The  names  of  the  sects  who  fled  to  America  bring  vividly  to  mind 
the  tremendous  religious  conflicts  of  the  old  world:  Puritans,  Presby- 
terians, Quakers,  Baptists,  Huguenots,  Saltzburgers,  Lutherans, 
Moravians,  German  Reformed,  Dutch  Reformed,  and  Roman 
Catholic.  Perhaps  all  but  the  Episcopalians  came  here  especially 
for  conscience  sake. 

It  will  be  well  to  take  a  hasty  review  of  the  denominations  in  the 
colonies.  The  Puritan  settlement  of  New  England  is  familiar  and  the 
founding  of  Rhode  Island  by  the  Baptists,  but  by  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century  there  were  several  thousand  Presbyterians  in 
those  states,  and  by  the  Revolution,  a  few  Episcopalians. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  became  dominant  in  the  middle 
and  southern  states  and  at  the  Revolution  was  either  established  or 
officially  countenanced  in  all  those  states  except  Pennsylvania.  But 
there  were  vigorous  dissenting  bodies,  notably  the  Presbyterians  and 
Baptists,  the  former  probably  having  much  influence  in  the  middle 
colonies. 


266  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

The  Quaker  must  not  be  overlooked, — who  settled  Pennsylvania, — 
nor  the  Huguenots  who  more  perhaps  than  any  other  gave  spiritual 
life  to  the  South,  nor  the  members  of  the  Dutch  Church  who  settled 
New  York,  nor  the  Roman  Catholics  who  had  founded  Maryland, 
but  were  now  reduced  to  a  mere  handful. 

In  New  England  if  narrow  and  prescriptive  the  church  had  been 
intense;  in  the  other  colonies  if  the  established  church  was  lax  many 
of  the  dissenting  churches  were  not  lacking  in  zeal.  It  was  but 
natural,  perhaps,  that  as  their  colonial  life  with  all  its  difficulties 
extended,  their  practice  of  religion  should  lose  something  of  its  early 
fervor,  but  in  1740  et  seq.  a  revival,  called  the  "Great  Awakening," 
spread  through  all  the  colonies.  It  reunited  the  dry  theology  of 
New  England  and  stirred  the  sluggishness  of  the  Episcopalians.  But 
a  long  period  of  decline  followed.  Soon  came  the  French  and  Indian 
War  and  close  upon  it  the  Revolution,  when  civil  affairs  excluded  all 
other  thoughts. 

A  clergyman  notes  the  ardor  for  war  and  says,  "Would  to  God 
they  were  as  zealous  for  the  things  of  religion." 

At  the  Revolution  the  most  important  churches  were  these: 

Church  Statistics  1775 
Sects  Ministers  Churches 

Congregationalists  .<*.<.. 575  700 

Baptists ':.. . 350  380 

Episcopalians .:•••-.• 25°  30° 

Presbyterians '. 140  300 

Lutherans 25  60 

German  Reformed 25  60 

Dutch  Reformed 25  60 

Asso.  Reformed  Church  of  the  South,  Presby- 
terian   13  20 

Moravians . , 12  8 

Roman  Catholic . .  26  52 


Total 1,441  1,940 

Though  church  statistics  of  this  period  are  to  be  taken  with  much 
allowance,  yet  it  seems  clear  that  the  Congregational  Church  was  by 
far  the  largest  and  most  influential,  followed  by  the  Baptists,  Episco- 
palians and  Presbyterians  who  were  not  very  unequal  in  point  of 
number  of  churches  and  ministers. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  too,  that  on  the  eve  of  the  Revolution  the 
Congregational  Church  was  established  in  all  the  New  England 
states  except  Rhode  Island,  and  in  the  middle  and  southern  states 
excepting  Pennsylvania.  The  Episcopal  Church  was  either  favored 
or  supported  by  government. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  267 

During  the  Revolution  the  churches  (the  Elder  Adams  cautioned 
the  Abbe  Mably  not  to  undertake  the  war  of  the  Revolution  without 
first  mastering  the  church  system  of  New  England)  became  truly 
militant,  nearly  all  the  churches  entering  powerfully  into  the  war 
and  fighting  for  the  colonies,  except  the  Episcopalians  (who,  however, 
had  notable  exceptions)  and  these  were  loyal  Britons. 

But  the  effects  of  the  Revolution  on  all  the  churches  were  extremely 
severe.  Young  men  had  been  called  away  from  home  to  camp;  in 
places,  congregations  were  entirely  broken  up;  churches  had  been 
burned  or  turned  into  barracks  and  hospitals;  while,  I  suppose,  the 
moral  repression  that  comes  when  slaughter  is  the  business  of  men, 
was  not  the  least  of  the  evils. 

But  hardly  was  the  peace  declared  when  the  churches  began  to  form 
anew  and  continued  till  the  second  great  religious  revival  of  1792-96. 

To  understand  this  re-organization  it  is  needful  to  follow  the  growth 
of  the  individual  churches  while  noting  the  agencies  acting  on  all. 
The  Episcopal  Church  lost  by  the  revolution  its  establishment  in  the 
south,  and  its  official  countenance  in  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  It 
then  became  necessary  for  it  to  reform  if  it  were  to  exist.  Its  clergy 
were  hated  in  New  England  and  many  of  them  despised  in  the  South 
for  their  sordid  lives. 

But  the  church  of  Clarkson  and  Wilberforcjjbntained  too  much 
good  to  entirely  perish  in  the  states.  jjf^ 

Soon  Bishops  Seabury,  White,  Provost  and  Madison  were  con- 
secrated, conventions  held,  a  new  church  constitution  adopted  1789, 
and  the  Episcopal  Church  began  a  period  of  prosperity  such  as  it  had 
not  known  before.  It  had  to  reform  or  perish  and  its  able  clergy  and 
good  organization  saved  it. 

Perhaps  its  movements  were  quickened  by  the  rapid  increase  of 
Methodists,  who  but  lately  had  styled  themselves  Episcopalians. 
The  growth  of  this  body  may  be  seen  by  these  figures: 

Iten. 

Year                                                                        preachers  Members 

1776 24  4,921 

1786 117  20,569 

1796 293  56,664 

with  probably  as  many  more  local  preachers.  In  1773  it  had  but  6 
circuits;  in  1792  it  had  136  extending  from  beyond  the  St.  Lawrence 
to  Savannah,  Ga.,  and  from  eastern  Massachusetts  to  western  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee. 

It  would  appear  that  the  special  cause  of  its  growth,  was,  first,  the 
youth  and  zeal  of  its  preachers;  second,  the  homely,  moral  nature  of 
their  preaching  was  such  as  to  particularly  appeal  to  the  masses  who 
were  tired  of  war  and  sick  of  theology. 


268  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

I  do  not  find  that  the  development  in  the  Congregational  Church 
was  of  the  same  nature  as  the  others.  It  may  be  said  to  have  had  its 
growth.  Dr.  Hurst,  it  is  true,  declares  its  revival  pervaded  all 
classes  of  the  people,  but  Punchard's  remark  is  to  be  noted,  "  that  in 
point  of  fact  Massachusetts  gathered  fewer  churches  between  1790 
and  1800  than  during  any  previous  ten  years  for  ninety  years." 
Massachusetts  was  (its  development  perhaps,was  spiritual  rather  than 
structural)  brooding  over  a  new  denomination. 

The  advance  of  the  Baptists  may  be  seen  in  these  figures: 

Year  Churches     Ministers     Members 

1784 471  424         35,101 

1790-92 891  1,150         65,345 

The  Revolution  was  a  deliverance  to  the  Baptists  from  restriction, 
north  and  south,  and  they  together  with  the  Presbyterians  were  Jef- 
ferson's supporters  for  religious  toleration.  Its  structural  develop- 
ment in  New  England  is  noteworthy. 

By  1793  it  had  in  those  states  alone  13  church  associations,  repre- 
senting 312  churches  and  23,638  members. 

Diman  declares  its  growth  was  due,  first,  to  personal  experience  of 
religion  as  a  condition  for  admission.  Second,  "Lovely  preaching," 
i.  e.y  an  unlettered  clergy,  contrasted,  e.  g.,  with  the  Congregational- 
ists  who  required  their  ministers  to  be  well  educated. 

The  Presbyterians  were  among  the  first  to  reorganize.  In  1785 
the  Synods  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  began  to  take  steps  toward 
revising  the  public  standards  of  the  church. 

A  large  committee  was  appointed,  presided  over  by  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon,  who  had  represented  New  Jersey  in  the  United  States  Con- 
gress for  six  years.  In  1788  the  revision  was  completed,  and  in  1789 
the  first  General  Assembly  was  held.  Dr.  Witherspoon's  congres- 
sional experience  was  no  doubt  important  but  the  success  of  Pres- 
byterianism  is  rather  to  be  sought  in  sturdy  zeal  of  the  Scotch  and 
Scotch  Irish  and  its  strong  organization,  which  now  was  less 
restrained. 

If  there  was  anything  in  which  the  colonies  seemed  to  agree  it  was 
in  the  hatred  of  Catholicism,  and  yet  when  the  Revolution  broke  out 
the  Catholics  faithfully  supported  the  American  cause.  One  signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  Catholic,  and  a  Catholic 
priest  had  been  a  member  of  the  delegation  sent  to  Canada. 

In  1784  the  Catholics  petitioned  the  Pope  for  an  American  vicar- 
apostolic  and  Fr.  Carroll  was  appointed,  and  in  1789  was  raised  to  the 
Bishopric  on  account  of  the  growth  of  the  church.  The  reasons  which 
this  clergyman,  himself,  assign  for  the  growth  of  the  Catholic  Church 
are,  first,  the  religious  toleration  of  the  United  States  Congress;  second, 
greater  toleration,  especially  for  Catholics  because,  first,  of  their  zeal  in 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  269 

the  Revolution;  second,  the  aid  of  Catholic  France  weakened  preju- 
dice; third,  the  desire  for  aid  or  at  least  neutrality  from  Canada  which 
contained  many  Catholics.  To  which  might  be  added  the  fact  that 
Fr.  Carroll  drew  to  his  aid  the  powerful  order  of  Jesuits. 

Having  seen  the  particular  causes  acting  on  the  different  denomina- 
tions, what  shall  we  say  were  the  general  influences? 

1st.  The  force  of  reaction  in  the  American  character  which  was 
undeniably  moulded  by  religious  influence.  Remember  that  for 
thirty  years  religion  had  been  neglected. 

2d.  The  religious  toleration  necessarily  allowed  by  the  new  con- 
stitution. This  toleration  had  a  double  influence  (a)  in  allowing 
freer  action  to  the  genius  of  each  denomination  and  (b)  it  gave 
freer  play  to  the  element  of  emulation. 

3d.  The  effect  of  the  Revolutionary  struggle  in,  first,  increasing  the 
travel  and  communication  between  the  different  parts  of  the  country; 
second,  the  greater  toleration  of  the  sects  for  one  another  from  fighting 
in  a  common  cause;  third,  the  free  and  independent  spirit,  if  I  may 
term  it  so,  which  they  acquired  from  Revolutionary  principles. 

The  petition  of  the  Baptist  clergy  to  the  Massachusetts  legislature 
has  these  words:  "Our  real  grievances  are  that  we  as  well  as  our 
fathers  have  been  taxed  on  religious  grounds  where  we  were  not  rep- 
resented," etc. 

The  Methodists,  at  one  of  their  meetings,  use  this  language:  "We 
view  it  as  contrary  to  the  golden  law  of  God  and  the  inalienable  rights 
of  mankind  as  well  as  every  principle  of  the  Revolution,"  etc. 

A  resolution  of  the  Episcopal  Convention,  in  Massachusetts  in 
1784-85,  begins,  "Voted  that  the  Episcopal  Church,  in  the  United 
States  ought  to  be  independent  of  all  foreign  authority." 

4th.  The  air  could  not  have  been  filled  with  talk  of  civil  constitu- 
tions without  suggesting  similar  church  organizations,  especially 
when  members  of  the  civil  conventions  were  also  church  members, 
and  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  toleration  of  the  Constitution 
by  no  means  severed  the  connection  between  church  and  state  in  the 
different  states.  They  were  not  separated  in  Connecticut  till  1816, 
nor  in  Massachusetts  till  1833.  So  that  if  I  were  to  shortly  answer 
the  question  with  which  I  began,  I  should  say  that  the  influence  of 
the  Constitution  on  church  development  was  by  no  means  the  con- 
trolling one  but  that  it  did  act  as  a  suggestive. 

A  NEW  BUSINESS  LIFE  FOR  NORTH  BROOKFIELD 

Last  Wednesday  morning,  at  half  past  seven,  two  red  deer  came 
out  of  the  woods,  eastward  of  my  home,  crossed  the  pasture,  whisked 
their  tails  merrily  through  the  long  grass  in  the  meadow,  skirted  corn 
fields,  and  disappeared  in  the  direction  of  New  Braintree.  Perhaps 
it  was  the  long  continued  bad  weather;  perhaps  it  was  the  many 


270  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

stories  about  the  prospects  of  North  Brookfield  that  had  given  me  the 
blues;  and  I  began  to  moralize  as  follows: 

"Is  the  day,  indeed,  coming  when  the  red  deer  may  roam  un- 
troubled through  the  wilds  of  North  Brookfield;  and,  perchance,  wan- 
dering tribes  of  summer  boarders  pitch  their  camps  on  the  spot  where 
once  stood  our  prosperous  Big  Shop?" 

Many  similar  questions  have  been  seriously  asked;  and  many  times 
dismal  prophecies  have  been  spoken.  Early  last  spring,  a  former 
resident  of  our  town  met  me  in  Boston,  and  assured  me  that  the  shop 
was  about  to  close,  and  that  it  would  never  again  re-open  for  business. 

Some  months  later,  I  met  an  old  and  experienced  business  man  of 
Spencer,  who  positively  declared  that  not  only  was  the  business  of 
North  Brookfield  gone  forever,  but  that  all  other  boot  manufacturing 
towns  of  New  England  were  doomed  to  the  same  fate. 

With  all  respect  to  those  gentlemen,  and  that  kind  of  prophecy,  let 
me  venture  to  give  you  my  reasons  for  thinking  them  absolutely  mis- 
taken. Suppose,  for  an  instant,  that  we  were  deprived  of  every  vestige 
of  business,  the  framework  of  Nature's  architecture  would  still  be 
left  to  us:  the  hills,  the  valleys,  the  glens,  the  woodlands;  fair  as  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  gentler  than  the  mountains  of  the  Swiss; 
beauties  so  rare,  so  unique,  that  weary  men  of  wealth  seeking  the 
summer  charms  of  a  quiet  rural  home,  would  be  won  forever,  were 
those  charms  but  properly  heralded  abroad. 

Nature  gives  us,  too,  our  farms.  Notwithstanding  all  our  rainy 
weather,  the  fuel  of  the  sun  is  not  yet  burned  out;  and  the  good  lands 
of  our  town  will  still  bear  crops,  abundant  enough  to  support  a  popu- 
lation much  larger  than  North  Brookfield  has  ever  known.  Men 
who  know  whereof  they  speak  declare  that  the  margin  of  profit  on 
the  big  farms  of  the  west  is  constantly  failing,  and  that  the  day  is  not 
far  distant,  when  the  eastern  farmer  who  knows  his  business  and  his 
land  can  freely  meet  his  western  brother  with  many  products  in  many 
markets. 

As  for  the  boot  and  shoe  trade  that  is  now  stagnant  everywhere, 
stagnant  I  mean  as  compared  with  former  days  of  activity.  Men 
speak  of  western  and  even  of  southern  competition.  But  can  it  be 
that  New  England,  which  has  taught  bootmaking  to  all  the  world, 
now  falls  breathless  before  western  competition,  or  any  other  com- 
petition? Absurd!  Of  course  there  is  a  lull  in  the  production  of 
boots  and  shoes;  and  it  is  also  true  that  certain  localities  are  now 
manufacturing  some  of  their  own  boots  and  shoes,  whereas,  formerly, 
they  bought  all  from  us. 

But  the  difficulty  of  the  hour  does  not  come  from  that  cause.  Think 
for  a  moment  what  a  tremendous  power  to  produce  exists  in  our 
enormous  boot  factories,  and,  think  further,  how  that  power  to  pro- 
duce has  increased  during  the  last  twenty-five  years  throughout  New 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  271 

England,  especially  in  Massachusetts;  while  the  population  of  North 
America  has  not  increased  in  any  such  proportion.  Besides  all 
industries  are  being  readjusted,  under  the  rolling  wheels  of  capital, 
which  seeks  always  the  most  profitable  investment. 

The  boot  and  shoe  industry  is  subject  to  the  laws  of  finance.  This, 
at  least,  is  certain:  People  will  continue  to  wear  boots  and  shoes; 
they  wear  out  rapidly  and  have  to  be  renewed;  and  there  is  no  part  of 
the  world  where  they  can  be  made  to  as  good  advantage  as  in  New 
England;  and  in  no  town  in  New  England  to  better  advantage  than 
in  North  Brookfield,  though,  possibly,  the  methods  of  doing  the 
business  may  have  to  change. 

But  wider  markets  are  needed.  The  United  States  should  have 
closer  commercial  relations  with  all  the  world.  There  is  no  good 
reason  why  the  Big  Shop  might  not  pour  its  products  into  Germany, 
France,  Austria,  China  and  Japan.  Perhaps,  even  the  Filipinos  can 
be  taught  to  wear  boots  and  shoes.  It  is  particularly  true  that,  on 
the  continent  of  Europe,  the  boots  and  shoes  are  distinctly  inferior 
to  ours  and  made,  too,  at  a  higher  cost.  We  have  seen  and  know  this 
to  be  a  fact;  and  our  consuls  abroad  are  forever  urging  this.  But 
how  shall  these  larger  projects  be  financed? 

It  is  the  brain  power  of  New  England's  sons  that  dominates  the 
finance  of  America — perhaps  it  would  be  true  to  say  the  finance  of  the 
world — today.  Do  you  suppose  that  the  sons  of  New  England  will 
leave  New  England  itself  out  of  the  reckoning?  Let  industry  read- 
just itself  and  all  legitimate  lines  of  business  in  New  England  will  be 
financed. 

At  the  present  moment  the  business  men  of  the  town  itself,  are 
amply  able,  when  they  see  fit,  to  take  up  again  the  old  industry;  and 
add  new  industries  as  well.  I  am  sure  the  chairman  of  this  meeting 
alone  could  do  that.  The  railroad  and  the  waterworks  must  not 
exist  in  North  Brookfield  in  vain.  They  are  too  expensive  a  luxury 
for  the  farmers  alone. 

North  Brookfield  is  not  going  to  disappear  from  the  map.  Her 
history  is  imbedded  in  the  history  of  the  United  States.  The  monu- 
ment in  the  yard  outside  is  a  proof  in  granite  that  this  town  has 
freely  shed  her  blood  for  the  National  Government;  and  the  National 
Government  owes  it  to  North  Brookfield  and  her  sister  towns  to  guide 
our  commercial  policy  into  closer  business  relations  with  the  nations 
of  the  world  so  that  the  genius  of  New  England  for  industry  may  have 
its  natural  opportunities.  The  voice  of  North  Brookfield,  and  that 
of  the  many  towns  like  her,  should  be  louder  in  our  National  councils. 
Are  we  Democrats?  Are  we  Republicans?  Let  us  at  least  make 
sure  that  the  prosperity  of  our  homes,  and  our  town,  commands  our 
united  support. 

Then,  in  a  high  spirit  of  co-operation  between  employers  and  em- 


272  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

ployees  as  well,  the  hum  of  our  factories  will  again  be  music  in  our 
ears,  and  North  Brookfield  will  be  the  Queen  of  the  Hills,  as  of  yore. 

WORK  AND  WORKING  PEOPLE 

The  old  Greek  philosopher,  Aristotle,  said,  "There  is  motion: 
therefore  there  is  a  God."  The  keen-minded  Greek  believed  that 
active  power  was  a  proof  of  divinity;  and  we  have  but  to  observe 
and  think  to  see  that  the  mighty  Being  that  works  beneath  the  moun- 
tains and  rules  behind  the  clouds  manifests  Himself  to  us  in  never 
ceasing  action.  The  growing  trees,  the  changing  seasons,  the  restless 
ocean,  the  whirling  globe  itself,  all  proclaim  an  infinite  impelling 
energy. 

We  are  told  this  Being  made  man  in  his  own  likeness  and  hear 
the  command  which  some  would  call  a  curse:  "By  the  sweat  of 
thy  brow  shalt  thou  earn  thy  bread."  Such  was  the  command  of 
the  Deity  to  him  who  represented  the  human  race. 

Whether  poverty  nurse  thee  or  wealth  fondle  thee;  whether  thy 
brain  be  strong  with  genius  or  poorly  commonplace;  whether  thy 
limbs  be  those  of  a  giant  or  of  a  weakly  boy  or  girl,  if  thou  dost  not 
earn  thy  bread  thou  shalt  eat  my  curse  with  every  crumb;  if  I  give 
thee  the  means  of  life  thou  must  earn  thy  right  to  live,  move,  think, 
work. 

What  then  is  work?  What  is  its  object?  What  should  be  its 
reward? 

Work  is  exertion  more  or  less  skillful  to  satisfy  a  need. 

Since  the  exertion  must  tend  to  a  definite  result  it  must  be  con- 
trolled by  skill  and  directed  by  intelligence.  For  forces  working  at 
random  mutually  interrupt  and  destroy  one  another.  The  biggest 
booby  that  ever  caught  a  wasp  by  the  tail  had  some  skill  else  he  could 
not  have  done  as  much  as  this.  Not  only  does  Intelligence  look 
backwards,  producing  skill  in  the  work,  but  it  looks  forward  con- 
trolling the  work  according  to  the  need  for  the  product.  For  unless 
there  is  some  need  for  the  goods  it  is  as  useless  to  produce  them  as 
to  read  a  sermon  to  a  minister  or  a  lecture  on  temperance  to  a  doctor. 

What  then  are  the  conditions  that  make  it  possible  to  do  work? 
Health  and  strength  of  body,  health  and  strength  of  mind.  What  is 
necessary  for  health  and  strength  of  body?  Tolerable  capacity, 
proper  food,  exercise,  clothing  and  an  avoidance  of  hurtful  agencies. 

What  is  necessary  for  health  and  strength  of  mind?  Tolerable 
capacity,  proper  food,  exercise  and  training  and  an  avoidance  of 
hurtful  agencies. 

What  then  should  be  the  reward  of  work?  "By  the  sweat  of  thy 
brow  thou  shalt  earn  thy  bread."  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his 
hire." 

Clearly  the  laborer  should  have,  in  the  first  place,  enough  to  pro- 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  273 

vide  him  with  food  and  clothing  to  enable  him  to  continue  his  work; 
in  the  next  place  the  same  for  those  dependent  upon  him,  further- 
more enough  to  guarantee  training  of  body  and  mind  for  his  children 
and  those  dependent  upon  him  and  beside  such  comforts  and  stores 
necessary  to  adorn  and  secure  human  life  and  such  as  the  dignity  of 
manhood  deserves. 

If  honest  labor  cannot  commend  these  it  is  because  the  Creator 
has  dried  up  the  fountains  of  life  or  it  is  because  human  agencies  are 
opposing  the  end  of  life.  It  cannot  be  but  that  this  broad  and  fertile 
earth  has  enough  in  its  bosom  for  all  the  children  of  men.  Why,  put 
all  the  millions  of  the  globe  into  the  state  of  Texas  and  there  would 
be  two  or  three  acres  for  each. 

Judging  from  the  powers  of  man  and  the  ample  riches  of  nature 
the  retired  student  might  presume  that  all  who  wished  to  prosper  in 
this  world  prospered  if  they  worked. 

But  the  traveller  need  not  go  from  the  United  States,  prosperous 
though  they  be  when  compared  with  other  countries,  to  see  that  such 
is  not  the  fact. 

Even  in  the  smaller  towns  one  often  sees  young  children,  little 
boys  and  little  girls,  clad  in  coarse  and  broken  clothes — no  childlike 
looks,  no  buoyant  youthful  actions,  no  rosy  cheeks  and  sparkling 
eyes;  but  on  their  features  hard  toil  has  stamped  his  mark,  dampened 
the  spirit  and  deadened  the  eye.  You  say  to  yourself :  "Something 
is  wrong  here."  But  when  you  travel  the  country  over  from  town 
to  town  and  city  to  city  and  find  everywhere  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands working  in  misery,  living  in  hovels,  dying  in  poverty,  you  say 
to  yourself  "The  world  is  out  of  joint."  What  causes  this? 
Can  it  be  improved?  The  temperance  advocate  will  tell  you  in- 
temperance and  there  is  reason  in  what  he  says.  Time,  money, 
health,  strength,  body,  soul,  wife  and  children  cast  to  the  devils 
for  rum. 

What  causes  this? 

The  religious  advocate  will  tell  you  irreligion,  and  there  is  much 
truth  in  what  he  says.  For  he  who  does  not  worship  God  is  likely  to 
honor  neither  himself  nor  his  fellow  men.  Then  comes  sloth,  vice, 
crime,  a  filthy  body,  a  dirty  soul;  habits  vile  and  criminal. 

But  still  you  feel  that  your  question  is  not  fully  answered.  Espe- 
cially when  you  yourself  know  of  men  anxious  to  succeed,  seeking 
work  and  cannot  find  it.  When  you  read  of  Burns,  the  London 
socialist,  addressing  thousands  of  workingmen  out  of  employment. 
When  you  know  that  in  this  prosperous  country,  which  according 
to  the  last  census,  paid  950  millions  of  dollars  as  wages  in  1880, 
notwithstanding  that  the  great  body  of  wage  laborers  earn  but  a 
scanty  living,  honest  and  industrious  and  on  the  whole  quite  tern- 


274  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

perate,  yet  working  as  hard  as  the  horse  in  the  cart  and  getting  little 
more  and  not  sure  of  that. 

Your  suspicion  that  there  is  a  social  wrong  here  increases  when 
you  read  in  the  same  census  report  that  the  earnings  of  the  railroads 
for  the  same  year  were  230  millions  of  dollars.  When  you  know 
that  all  the  great  industries  of  the  country  are  controlled  by  monop- 
olies enabling  a  Paine  to  earn  his  millions,  a  Gould  his  tens  of  millions 
and  a  Vanderbilt  his  hundreds  of  millions;  while  round  about  the 
laboring  poor  eke  out  a  scanty  living. 

Ask  the  modern  scientist  the  cause  of  this  and  he  will  tell  you  it  is 
a  result  of  the  struggle  for  existence.  Just  as  dogs  scramble  for  a 
bone  and  he  with  the  biggest  jaws  and  strongest  paws  is  apt  to  get 
the  meat,  so  men  in  active  life  fight  with  one  another  and  the  strong 
shoulder  the  weak  aside  and  seize  the  good  things  of  life.  You  will 
see  much  to  favor  this  view  in  the  street,  in  the  store,  in  the  workshop, 
in  the  market,  in  every  sphere  in  life.  In  action  the  tight  lip,  the 
tense  muscle,  the  stern  eye,  bent  on  grasping,  when  and  where  he 
can,  and  some  even  suspect  that  the  ready  smile  and  the  long-winded 
prayer  are  but  secret  means  for  selfish  gain. 

Apply  this  now  to  business. 

The  animating  principle  of  business  is  "Look  out  for  number  one." 
Its  invariable  method  is  competition.  What  is  the  result?  Inherited 
wealth,  or  good  luck,  or  greater  ability,  or,  all  combined  give  some 
the  advantage,  then  they  pull  by  sheer  force  even  security  for  the 
means  of  life  from  the  multitude. 

The  greater  capitalists  pluck  the  smaller  capitalists  by  competition, 
then  they  compete  with  one  another  or  else  combine  in  monopolies 
all-controlling,  forcing  labor  down  to  the  point  at  which  it  is  most 
advantageous  to  themselves. 

What  point  is  that? 

Just  high  enough  to  keep  laborers  in  existence  to  do  their  work 
and  no  higher.  The  instruments  of  modern  civilization,  the  steam- 
boat, the  railroad,  the  telephone,  the  telegraph  are  in  the  hands  of 
monopoly,  giving  it  a  force  that  is  simply  stupendous,  reaching  over 
the  sea  and  over  the  land,  so  that  instead  of  saying  "  The  earth  is  the 
Lord's  and  all  that  is  therein,"  we  might  almost  say  "The  earth  is 
Monopolies  and  all  that  is  therein." 

Such  is  the  state  of  affairs  in  this  country  and  we  have  been  a  nation 
only  about  a  century.  If  matters  go  on  at  this  rate  who  will  say 
what  the  condition  will  be  at  the  end  of  another  century?  Unless 
systems  change  the  condition  can  at  least  be  guessed  at.  The  tend- 
ency of  capital  is  to  accumulate  power,  the  tendency  of  such  power 
is  to  tyrannize;  tyranny  produces  opposition.  So  our  country  will 
separate  as  it  is  separating  into  two  classes — the  Rich  and  the  Poor, 
filled  with  opposing  passions  like  two  neighboring  thunder  clouds. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  275 

That  there  is  a  similar  state  of  affairs  in  England  we  may  see  when 
we  remember  that  more  wealth  has  been  accumulated  in  England 
during  this  century  than  during  all  the  centuries  that  precede  it, 
though  the  poor  have  not  become  much  better  off,  as  we  may  judge 
from  the  words  of  Mr.  Bradlaugh.  He  asks,  "Why  is  it  that  human 
beings  are  starved  to  death  in  a  wealthy  country  like  England,  with 
its  palaces,  its  cathedrals — with  its  grand  mansions  and  luxurious 
dwellings — with  its  mills,  mines  and  factories,  with  its  enormous 
profits  to  the  capitalists,  with  its  broad  acres  and  great  rent  rolls? 
The  fact  that  men,  old,  young  and  in  the  prime  of  life,  that  women 
and  that  children  do  so  die  is  indisputable." 

You  will  think  of  this  all  the  more  when  you  read  in  the  papers  of 
the  19th  of  the  present  month  that  Mr.  William  Johnston  urged,  in 
the  British  Parliament,  that  the  queen  be  recommended  to  appoint 
a  day  for  national  humiliation  and  prayer,  because  of  the  distress 
prevalent  among  the  poor  and  unemployed  of  the  laboring  classes. 

According  to  the  reports  presented  by  C.  D.  Warg  (?),  1885, 
1,000,000  laborers  are  always  out  of  employment  in  the  United  States. 

Such  is  the  situation  in  England  and  America  which  represent  the 
world  in  commercial  progress.  Can  this  situation  be  improved?  I 
suppose  that  in  every  age  there  have  been  plans  and  experiments  for 
regulating  the  commercial  relations  of  men.  These  may  be  roughly 
divided  into  two  systems,  first,  Socialism;  second,  Co-operation. 

Socialism  would  entirely  reorganize  society  and  would  make  land 
and  wealth  the  property  of  the  state,  which  would  use  the  land  and 
wealth  for  the  good  of  all,  since  it  is  for  the  good  of  all  that  it  exists. 

Co-operation  would  allow  individual  wealth  but  would  substitute 
universal  combination  for  universal  competition. 

There  have  been  many  socialistic  plans  and  many  socialistic  com- 
munities. One  of  the  most  famous  socialistic  plans  is  given  in  Plato's 
Republic  written  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 

Plato's  Republic  (taken  from  T ). 

His  state  is  to  be  composed  of  three  great  classes:  husbandmen, 
artisans  and  defenders.  He  gives  to  each  that  single  employment 
and  particular  art  which  is  best  suited  to  his  nature. 

The  guardians  are  to  defend  the  state  from  enemies,  internal  as 
well  as  external,  and  have  no  other  employment.  They  are  to  be 
merciful  in  judging  their  subjects  of  whom  they  are  by  nature  friends, 
but  when  they  came  in  the  way  of  their  enemies  in  battle  they  are  to 
be  fierce  with  them.  Since  these  are  to  be  gentle  to  their  friends  and 
fierce  to  their  enemies,  they  must  be  gifted  with  wisdom.  All  are  to 
be  trained  well  in  gymnastics  and  music,  that  is,  in  mind  and  body. 
All  pursuits  are  to  be  open  to  women ;  there  are  to  be  no  private  mar- 
riages, and  the  land  is,  of  course,  to  be  held  in  common,  since  in  the 
state  everything  is  to  be  for  the  good  of  all. 


276  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

In  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  of  England,  Sir  Thomas  More  wrote  his 
Utopia,  intended  rather,  it  would  seem,  to  point  out  the  hardships 
of  the  poor  than  to  prove  the  possibility  of  his  own  scheme,  which 
was  this. 

Morels  Utopia. 

Seated  inMore's  garden,  a  companion  of  Amerigo  Vespucci  describes 
the  island  of  Utopia,  its  people  and  institutions.  The  island  is  in 
shape  like  a  new  moon.  Between  the  horns  of  the  crescent  is  a  fine 
harbor,  the  rest  of  the  coast  is  destruction  to  ships.  The  island  is 
five  hundred  miles  in  circuit  and  contains  fifty-four  fair  cities,  all 
situated  alike.  Its  capital  is  Amaurote,  situated  on  a  hillside  and 
well  supplied  with  water.  The  people  elect  their  rulers,  every  thirty 
families  choosing  a  phelarche.  Over  every  ten  phelarches  there 
is  a  tranibore.  All  the  phelarches,  two  hundred  in  number,  elect 
the  prince,  who,  if  just,  rules  for  life.  Every  third  day  the  tranibores 
consult  with  the  prince  about  public  matters;  and  all  matters  are 
weighed  thoroughly  and  executed  in  season.  All  the  people,  men 
and  women,  are  good  farmers,  and  everyone  is  instructed  in  one  or 
more  crafts  beside  according  to  his  talent.  The  chief  business  of  the 
officers  is  to  see  that  the  people  are  industrious.  These  work  nine 
hours  and  sleep  eight  and  the  rest  of  the  time  is  spent  in  eating,  study- 
ing good  literature,  and  in  recreation.  Their  property  is  held  in 
common;  they  eat  at  public  tables.  If  one  city  lacks  anything  they 
are  supplied  by  a  neighboring  city,  free  of  cost,  and  they  themselves 
supply  others  who  may  be  in  need.  But  want  is  rare  among  them 
for  they  are  diligent  and  provide  for  the  needs  of  two  years  in  advance 
and  never  squander  their  substance.  The  meaner  utensils  of  the 
house  they  make  of  gold  and  adorn  their  slaves  with  gold.  So  it  is 
held  in  great  contempt.  They  put  diamonds  upon  their  children 
and  when  they  grow  up  they  think  jewels  childish  playthings  and  so 
neglect  them. 

Thus  avarice,  a  great  curse  of  mankind,  is  unknown  among  them. 

They  consider  pleasure  the  end  of  life,  but  consider  what  most 
people  regard  as  pleasure  to  be  very  injurious  and  so  not  to  be 
pleasure. 

They  regard  culture  of  the  mind  a  great  pleasure  and  so  are  well 
versed  in  music,  logic,  arithmetic,  astronomy  and  good  literature; 
they  believe  good  health  to  be  the  greatest  pleasure  of  the  body. 
They  make  criminals  their  slaves,  yet  they  treat  them  considerately 
and  will  free  them  for  good  cause. 

They  are  very  attentive  to  the  aged  and  the  sick.  They  preserve 
the  marriage  tie  and  grant  divorces  with  great  caution. 

They  wage  war  only  against  the  unjust  and  conquer  their  enemies 
quite  as  much  by  craft  as  by  bravery. 

There  are  many  forms  of  religious  belief  among  them,  but  since 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  277 

they  all  believe  in  a  Supreme  Being  they  worship  together  in  churches, 
darkened  so  that  they  may  give  their  thoughts  wholly  to  meditation. 

Since  More's  Utopia  many  other  realms  have  been  created  in  litera- 
ture, picturing  some  far  away  imaginary  land  "where  perfect  social 
relations  prevail  and  human  beings  living  under  an  immaculate 
constitution  and  a  faultless  government  enjoy  a  simple  and  happy 
existence." 

Among  those  who  have  had  visions  of  happiness  for  mankind  are 
Francis  Bacon,  Campanella,  Moreilly,  Saint-Simon,  Fourier,  Robert 
Owen,  Mario,  Cabet,  Louis  Blane,  Lasalle  and  Karl  Marx  represent- 
ative leaders  of  thought.  Some  of  these  like  Saint-Simon  would 
attain  their  object  by  peaceful  means  while  others  would  attain  their 
communistic  heaven  by  making  the  present  world  a  hell.  Karl  Marx 
declares:  "Our  objects  can  only  be  attained  by  a  violent  subversion 
of  the  social  order."  As  Dr.  Kaufman  says:  "Social  reforms  he 
regards  as  a  mere  farce  and  the  efforts  of  trades-unions  to  bring  about 
a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  the  claims  of  capital  and  labor,  he  calls 
treason.  What  he  wants  is  not  reconciliation  of  conflicting  interests 
but  war  to  the  knife  against  Capitalism  which  is  to  end  in  the  triumph 
of  labor." 

The  central  idea  of  Marx's  system  is  that  capital  is  robbery,  ob- 
tained by  idle  persons,  and  is  made  possible  by  the  fact  that  laborers 
produce  much  more  than  they  are  paid  in  wages.  To  illustrate,  in 
1880  in  the  United  States  the  value  of  raw  materials  was  3,396  millions 
of  dollars,  the  value  of  products  was  5,369  millions,  while  950  millions 
were  paid  in  wages,  leaving  1,053  millions  for  capital.  So  Marx 
argues  that  Capital  is  robbery,  and  raises  the  war  cry  of  "Down  with 
capital,  let  society  be  overturned." 

There  have  been  many  actual  attempts  to  establish  socialistic 
communities:  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  Essenes,  an 
early  Jewish  sect,  the  early  Christians  themselves,  and  in  our  own 
country  the  Shakers,  the  Amanites,  the  Economists  and  many  other 
small  communities,  numbering  perhaps  altogether  three  or  four  thou- 
sand souls. 

But  these,  though  interesting  trials,  seem  wholly  insufficient  to 
remedy  the  great  social  evils  of  the  world.  The  mop  is  useful,  Mrs. 
Partington,  but  don't  try  to  mop  out  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  For  More 
well  said:  "It  is  not  possible  for  all  things  to  be  well  unless  all  men 
were  good,  which  I  think  will  not  be  yet  these  good  many  years." 

Co-operation  recommends  itself  to  the  judgment  in  preference  to 
Socialism.  It  does  not  seek  to  overturn  the  present  system  in  fury. 
It  is  unfortunate  that  capital  should  be  controlled  as  at  present  but 
on  the  other  hand  the  prosperity  of  a  country  may  also  be  meas- 
ured by  the  amount  of  its  active  capital,  and  capitalists  are  not 
infrequently  the  hardest  working  broadest-minded  men  in  their 
communities. 


278  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Furthermore  co-operation  does  not  dampen  individual  ambition. 
Socialism  would  make  all  things  common  and  many  suspect  that  this 
would  break  the  mainspring  of  exertion. 

Besides  co-operation  has  been  actually  tried  in  the  business  of  the 
world.  It  has  been  largely  successful  and  promises  more. 

In  England,  Scotland  and  Wales,  in  1883,  there  were  1,209  societies 
with  a  membership  of  685,000  with  a  capital  of  80  million  pounds  and 
a  sale  of  goods  amounting  to  27^  million  pounds'  worth  of  goods. 

In  Germany,  during  the  same  year,  the  number  of  members  was 
1,200,000  with  a  capital  of  10,000,000  pounds  of  their  own.  They 
did  a  business  of  one  billion  pounds  during  the  year.  These  figures 
are  very  eloquent.  Under  our  present  system  the  wonderful  sight  is 
often  seen  of  overstocked  warehouses,  a  glutted  market  and  a  starving 
population.  Under  co-operation  this  would  be  avoided,  for  the  prod- 
uct would  be  brought  forward  not  by  speculation  but  to  meet  a 
demand  that  would  be  carefully  ascertained  beforehand.  Co-opera- 
tion promises  to  destroy  the  old  enmity  between  capital  and  labor. 
For  the  people  in  union  wrould  furnish  the  capital  and  would  them- 
selves be  the  laborers.  In  fact,  if  we  consider,  we  will  perceive  that 
every  great  work  is  accomplished  by  some  form  of  co-operation.  It 
is  by  union  of  efforts  that  our  churches  are  sustained  and  our  country 
preserved  in  time  of  war.  These  great  combinations  of  workingmen 
that  are  at  present  laying  strong  hands  upon  capitalists  show  the 
power  of  co-operation  and  may  yet  prove  to  workingmen  and  capital- 
ists, too,  that  labor  and  capital  must  co-operate  to  avoid  the  moral 
of  the  Kilkenny  cats. 

But  no  plan  of  socialism  or  co-operation  can  make  men  always  happy 
or  free  their  life  from  pain.  This  wrorld  is  dust  laid  on  rocks  of  granite, 
and  we  must  be  grimed  with  dust  and'on  the  granite  we  must  lay  our 
head.  But  unless  it  is  the  devil  that  guides  the  universe,  the  skill  of 
the  hand  and  the  sweat  of  the  brow  should  earn  the  bread  of  life  and 
win  some  smiles  from  a  favoring  heaven. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 


The  following  are  very  brief  extracts  from  a  few  of  the  letters 
James  Mahoney  wrote  home  while  studying  abroad,  1895-96.  The 
letters  he  wrote  home,  from  abroad,  in  1885  were  accidentally 
destroyed. 

A  traveller  has  good  cause  to  envy  the  birds  that  go  about  so  freely 
unhindered  by  baggage. 

A  trunk  is  enough  to  make  one  have  unpleasant  thoughts  toward 
gravity,  making  everything  have  weight  according  to  its  well-known 
outrageous  formula. 

I  had  sent  mine  on  from  Bale  to  Maintz,  intending  to  follow  it 


^^ 


! 


JAMES   MAHONEY 
WHEN  A  STUDENT  AT  BERLIN  UNIVEBSITT, 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  279 

when  I  got  ready.  So  I  could  enjoy  myself  more  heartily  and  I 
think  become  better  acquainted  with  the  German  soldiers  who  were  in 
my  compartment. 

A  glimpse  of  the  Black  Forest  recalled  incidents  of  the  late  war  with 
France,  in  which  some  of  my  companions  had  served.  One  of  them, 
whose  pleasant  face  and  bright  blue  eyes  make  me  like  him,  told  how 
he  became  promoted.  "We  were  making  an  attack  near  Paris  and 
thought  we  were  going  to  get  along  finely  and  have  it  all  our  own  way, 
when  suddenly  the  French  started  up  from  behind  a  hedge  and  opened 
fire  on  us.  Our  men,  who  were  nearly  all  quite  young,  turned  around, 
and  as  they  were  about  to  run  away  I  put  my  hands  up  to  my  mouth 
and  shouted,  'Stop,  children,  the  balls  are  going  over  your  heads.' 
After  the  battle  which  turned  out  in  our  favor  I  was  made  lieutenant." 

After  staying  over  night  at  Heidelberg  and  driving  up  to  the  old 
ruined  castle  (a  luxury  for  which  the  coachman  modestly  charges 
four  marks),  stopping  again  at  Strasburg  to  see  its  cathedral  and 
climb  up  four  or  five  hundred  feet  of  steeple  to  enjoy  the  prospect 
and  imagine  how  Goethe  felt  under  similar  circumstances,  I  reached 
Maintz  and  was  told  that  the  trunk  had  not  come. 

The  steamboat  station  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  city  and  in  ten 
minutes  it  would  be  time  for  my  boat  to  leave.  However,  I  went 
with  the  baggage  master  and  found  the  trunk  lying  down  contentedly 
in  a  remote  corner  as  trunks  are  apt  to  lie  in  a  German  station. 

I  told  the  porter  to  get  a  good  coach  as  I  was  in  a  terrible  hurry. 
The  horse  he  selected  was  much  opposed  to  running,  but  it  did  not 
matter  for  the  boat,  equally  opposed  to  flighty  movements,  was  late. 
But  who  would  wish  to  hurry  down  the  Rhine?  An  artist  whom  I 
met  told  me  that  he  had  already  spent  four  months  journeying  down 
the  beautiful  river,  winding  about  through  hills  clad  in  the  garments 
of  summer  and  crowned  with  castles. 

With  proud  hearts  let  the  German  sing  "Die  Wacht  am  Rhein," 
praising  their  valiant  youths  who  guarded  this  fair  river  against 
zealous  foes. 

Here  is  the  Niederwald  with  its  lofty  monument;  here  is  Saint 
Gear's,  famous  for  that  "sweetest  lassie  Lorelei." 

Here  is  "Bingen  whose  soldier  lay  dying  in  Algiers"  to  which  the 
soldier's  thoughts  who  lay  dying  at  Algiers  turned  with  longing.  All 
along  is  the  fatherland. 

CENTRAL-HOTEL,  BERLIN, 

July  21,  1895. 

I  spent  the  better  part  of  the  forenoon  Friday  in  the  National 
Gallery  in  London. 

There  are  a  great  many  of  the  old  masters  there.  Landseer's 
"Dog,"  and  "Horse  Fair"  by  Rosa  Bonheur  pleased  me  most. 


280  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Landseer  has  many  there.  So  has  Titian,  Andrea  del  Sarto, 
Rembrandt,  Raphael,  Fra  Angelico,  Michael  Angelo  and  nearly  all 
the  famous  masters. 

There  were  many  artists  there  copying. 

Left  London,  yesterday,  at  8.30  A.  M.,  reached  Queensboro  about 
10  A.  M.  and  crossed  the  Channel  to  Flushing;  the  Channel  was  quite 
rough.  I  came  nearer  to  feeling  sick  than  I  did  on  the  Atlantic. 

The  wind  was  against  us  and  we  were  twenty  minutes  late.  Our 
train  had  left,  i.  e.,  the  fast  through  train  for  Berlin,  and  we  had  to 
take  an  accommodation  train.  So  instead  of  getting  here  at  7  A.  M., 
the  regular  time,  we  got  in  this  evening. 

Does  mother  think  we  played  a  joke  on  her  by  not  telling  about  my 
coming? 

Note:  James  kept  his  plans  from  mother,  well  knowing  that  she  would  be  extremely 
anxious  until  she  heard  of  his  safe  arrival  in  Berlin.  He  used  the  same  consideration 
in  returning  and  reached  home  most  unexpectedly. 

BERLIN,  July  31,  1895. 

I  like  this  place  where  I  am  stopping  fairly  well.    But  think  of 
their  meal  hours. 
They  eat  as  follows: 
First  breakfast,  about  6.30  A.  M. 
Second  breakfast,  10  A.  M. 
Dinner,  at  2.30  P.  M. 
Coffee,  at  4  P.  M. 
Supper,  at  8.30  P.  M. 

So  far  I  have  had  my  breakfast  about  8.30  (nothing  warm  except 
cocoa).  Then  I  go  downtown  to  the  University  or  the  Library,  get 
a  little  lunch  while  there;  take  their  2.30  dinner  (hot),  and  then  do 
my  best  to  keep  alive  till  8.30. 

The  people  are  quite  pleasant.  But  hardly  one  of  them  can  talk 
a  word  of  English.  But  I  can  make  myself  understood  quite  well  in 
German,  and  of  course  I  need  the  practice. 

This  morning,  as  I  was  going  to  the  University  in  the  car,  two  young 
men  came  in  and  were  talking  English.  I  spoke  to  them.  I  told 
them  it  seemed  good  to  hear  that  language  again. 


BERLIN,  August  2,  1895. 

Here  it  is  Sunday  again,  and  no  letters  yet!  If  I  had  thought,  I 
would  have  had  you  begin  writing  soon  after  I  left  home,  and  have 
you  send  the  letters  to  me  Paste  Restante.  But  when  I  left  I  didn't 
feel  quite  certain  how  long  I  would  stay  in  London.  I  think  now  that 
I  shall  stay  here  the  whole  summer.  I  shall  have  the  use  of  the 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  281 

Library.     It  is  a  fine  one — about  twice  as  many  books  as  in  the 
Boston  Library. 

I  will  tell  you  about  the  floors  in  a  German  house.  No  one  hires  a 
room  on  the  first  floor.  The  Portier  or  janitor  lives  there.  To  get 
in  you  ring  and  press  against  the  door  which  opens.  You  go  up  a 
short  flight  of  steps — that  lands  you  on  the  Hochparterre  where  I  live. 
The  next  floor  is  called  Erste  etage;  the  next  zweite  etage  and  so  on. 
The  house  is  built  around  a  little  garden,  called  a  hof,  in  the  center  of 
which  are  little  trees  and  shrubs.  My  windows  look  out  on  this  hof. 


40  PESSAUER  STRASSE,  BERLIN 
Sunday,  August  11,  1895. 

Five  weeks  yesterday  since  I  left  Boston;  and  five  weeks  last 
Wednesday  morning  since  I  left  you  and  Fanny  in  West  Brookfield! 

It  doesn't  seem  exactly  real  that  I  am  so  far  away,  seems  as  if  I 
needed  only  to  take  the  train  for  an  hour  or  two  to  get  home.  I 
have  met  several  Americans  here.  Friday  night  I  was  going  along 
the  street  when  someone  stopped  me  and  said,  "You  know  me,  my 
name  is  Breck?"  I  had  seen  him  a  good  many  times  in  Boston. 
He  was  in  Amherst,  too,  one  year  while  I  was  there;  though  I  didn't 
know  him  then. 

BERLIN,  August  14,  1895. 

It  is  raining  this  morning,  and  so  I  will  write  in  the  forenoon  instead 
of  the  afternoon. 

It  rains  here  at  least  a  little  about  every  day.  But  today  it  looks 
as  if  it  would  not  clear  up  during  the  day. 

I  think  I  have  not  written  about  my  visit  to  Mrs.  Moulton,  in 
London.  You  remember  Mr.  Ward  had  given  me  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction, I  sent  that  with  my  card — it  was  a  Thursday — and  the 
next  day  I  received  a  cordial  reply.  She  said,  "Any  friend  of  Mr. 
Ward's  must  be  most  welcome  to  me."  It  was  her  reception  day. 
The  house  was  crowded.  I  did  not  stay  long. 

I  think  I  told  you  that  the  oldest  son  of  the  family  I  live  with 
is  a  fine  scholar.  He  is  employed  at  the  New  Museum.  His  spe- 
cialty is  the  Chinese  language.  He  has  done  some  fine  work.  They 
invited  me  the  other  day  to  go  with  them  to  a  suburb  called 
"Schlachten  See."  They  all  were  pleasant. 

I  have  been  wondering  whether  you  have  done  anything  with 
botany  or  forestry  this  summer.  Since  coming  here  I  have  seen 
nearly  all  the  flowers  that  we  have  at  home:  Geraniums,  pinks, 
pansies,  asters,  balsams,  poppies,  petunias,  fuchsias,  roses,  marigolds, 
and  those  long  spikes  the  name  of  which  I  always  forget — lily  family, 
light  red,  small  tubular  flowers — oh,  I  remember — gladiola.  The 


282  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

trees  are  nearly  the  same,  too,  birch,  oak,  pine,  chestnut,  etc.;   but 
above  all  linden. 

Have  not  got  a  syllable  yet  from  home.     Hope  to  very  soon. 

BERLIN,  September  1,  1895. 

These  are  great  days  in  Germany.  They  are  everywhere  celebrat- 
ing the  victories  that  they  won  over  the  French  twenty-five  years  ago. 
Today  and  tomorrow  are  "Sedan"  days,  that  being  the  name  of  the 
battle  in  which  they  decidedly  conquered  the  French.  The  most 
prominent  French  general  was  McMahon  (afterward  president  of 
France)  who  was  of  Irish  descent.  He  was  defeated,  of  course,  but 
his  troops  were  greatly  outnumbered  by  Germans. 

Today,  a  celebrated  memorial  church — very  near  here — in  honor 
of  Emperor  William  I  (Emperor  at  the  time  of  the  war)  was  dedicated. 
The  Emperor  was  to  be  there,  and  so  I  went  out  thinking  I  might 
catch  a  glimpse  of  him.  A  great  crowd  lined  both  sides  of  the  street, 
but  I  managed  to  get  a  good  place,  close  by  the  road.  Officers  in  the 
gaudiest  of  uniforms  kept  coming  along  in  carriages,  but  all  at  once 
came  a  troop  of  horsemen,  next  a  man  in  a  red  uniform,  and  then  the 
court  carriage  containing  the  Emperor  (William  II),  the  Empress, 
and  two  of  their  sons.  He  sat  up  stiff  as  a  ramrod  touching  his  cap. 
She  was  bowing  and  seemed  pleasanter. 

BERLIN,  September  4,  1895. 

We  have  been  having  great  times  here  for  the  last  few  days,  celebrat- 
ing the  victories  won  against  the  French  in  1870-71.  Sunday  and 
Monday,  September  1  and  2,  were  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of 
the  Battle  of  Sedan.  I  have  told  something  about  the  Sunday 
celebration.  Monday  forenoon  there  was  a  great  parade  of  the  troops 
— at  first  in  a  large  open  field  outside  the  city,  which  is  called  Tempel- 
hofer  Feld.  Every  spring  and  autumn  a  parade  of  troops  is  held  there. 
As  this  is  famous  the  world  over  I  thought  I  must  see  it.  I  went  out 
in  a  Droschke,  i.  e.,  an  apology  for  a  hack.  I  was  a  little  late,  but  I 
saw  a  good  deal  of  it.  You  ought  see  to  all  the  soldiers — blue  uni- 
forms trimmed  with  scarlet;  great  troops  of  cavalry,  plumes  waving 
on  their  helmets;  long  lines  of  artillery  wagons,  with  cannons  on 
behind.  They  could  kill  any  number  of  men  in  a  little  while. 

The  Emperor  was  there,  too,  riding  on  ahead,  on  a  nice  looking 
pony.  In  the  evening  there  were  illuminations  in  the  city  and  the 
people  of  the  house  invited  me  to  drive  with  them  about  the  city  and 
see  it.  The  houses  were  all  lighted  up,  many  having  burning  designs 
in  light,  and  others  red  and  green  fire. 

It  was  very  pleasant  out,  and  moonlight  too.  The  Victory  Column 
in  the  Park  was  all  lighted  up;  also  the  great  arch  of  the  Brandenburg 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  283 

Gate;  and  the  Parliament  House  was  a  blaze  of  red  fire,  flaming  on 
the  roof.  This  of  course  gave  out  smoke  and  cast  shadows;  and  from 
the  street  across  the  River  Spree,  looked  quite  grand. 

We  could  scarcely  get  through  the  streets  there  was  such  a  jam  of 
people.  Yet  nearly  all  were  quiet  and  good  natured.  When  we  got 
into  the  broad  street  called  "Under  den  Linden"  the  people  suddenly 
rushed  to  one  side — the  street  is  a  double  one,  a  sort  of  a  park  being 
in  the  middle — and  cried  "The  Emperor."  We  were  on  the  outskirts 
but  we  could  see  the  white  plume  of  his  helmet  as  his  carriage  flew 
through  the  crowd. 

BERLIN,  September  8,  1895. 

I  went  to  Charlottenburg,  a  place  in  the  suburb.  Charlottenburg 
Castle  is  very  old  and  interesting,  and  has  many  portraits — several 
of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  one  of  Queen  Anne  of  England.  The 
Mausoleum,  or  Tomb  of  William  I,  and  Queen  Louise  is  close  by. 

BERLIN,  September  18,  1895. 

I  received  quite  a  compliment  for  my  German  yesterday.  Most 
of  the  summer  I  have  been  reading  the  German  by  myself  and  speak- 
ing it  whenever  I  got  a  chance. 

But  I  saw  that  I  would  have  to  take  lessons  in  writing  it.  So  I 
have  taken  a  few  lessons  from  Frau  Kessler,  an  old  experienced 
teacher.  She  told  me  yesterday  that  she  had  never  met  an  American 
who  had  so  mastered  the  language  as  I.  And  she  had  known  and 
taught  a  good  many  Americans;  and  one,  in  particular,  had  been  here 
for  years.  She  said  that  you  can  always  tell  them  by  the  wrong 
sounds  of  the  letters  that  they  give,  but  that  I  gave  the  sounds 
entirely  correct.  It  pleased  me  a  good  deal. 

I  take  my  exercise  regularly  every  day.     Do  you? 

BERLIN,  October  27,  1895. 

That  drawing  of  the  gentian  came  the  other  day.  It  is  quite  good. 
I  like  to  get  those  flower-drawings.  The  fringed  gentian  was  my 
favorite  flower  when  I  was  a  boy.  I  always  thought  it  was  the  finest 
thing  to  find  one  over  in  the  pasture.  I  used  to  find  them  in  the 
little  pasture  just  beyond  the  knoll.  The  blue  was  especially  nice 
when  the  dew  was  on  it. 

J.  M.  has  marked  the  following  lines  in  Bryant's  poems,  "To  the  Fringed  Gentian," 
I  would  that  thus,  when  I  shall  see 
The  hour  of  death  draw  near  to  me, 
Hope  blossoming  within  my  heart, 
May  look  to  heaven  as  I  depart. 

I  have  now  arranged  my  courses  at  the  University.     The  philosophy 


284  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

of  law,  international  law  and  ethics.  Nineteen  hours  already  are 
arranged  for  all  in  the  philosophical  department,  and  three  of  private 
work  I  will  probably  add  to  that. 

BERLIN,  October  2,  1895. 

Next  Saturday,  9  A.  M.,  it  will  be  just  thirteen  weeks  since  I  left 
you  at  that  dock  in  East  Boston — more  than  three  months. 

We  had  a  baron  here  to  tea  the  other  evening.  He  comes  from 
Baden,  the  same  state  as  Mr.  \Vallroff.  He,  too,  was  a  soldier  with 
Maximilian  in  Mexico.  A  countess  lives  next  door.  The  Miillers 
know  them  and  I  suppose  I  shall  soon  meet  them. 

BERLIN, 
Sunday  P.  M.,  December  8,  1895. 

I  hope  you  went  to  hear  Paderewski.  I  heard  him  two  years  ago 
in  Boston.  It  was  the  finest  music  (instrumental)  that  I  ever  heard. 

The  letter  which  I  write  next  Sunday  you  will  probably  not  receive 
till  after  Christmas.  I  shall  be  away  over  Christmas.  It  makes  me 
feel  a  little  blue.  It  is  the  first,  of  course,  that  I  ever  spent  away  from 
home. 

BERLIN,  December  11,  1895. 

I  went  to  the  Reichstag  (Parliament)  meeting,  Monday.  It  is  a 
fine  hall  where  the  members  meet.  There  are  397  members,  elected 
from  all  over  Germany.  Instead  of  having  two  great  parties,  as  in 
the  U.  S.,  they  have  thirteen  factions,  as  they  call  them.  At  the 
present  time  the  Catholic  party  (called  the  Center  party  because  they 
sit  in  the  center  of  the  hall)  is  the  strongest.  The  president  of  the 
Reichstag  is  a  Catholic.  One  of  the  photographs  is  of  the  building 
itself.  I  think  you  will  get  this  letter  just  about  Christmas.  Well, 
I  can't  be  there  anyhow.  Merry  Christmas  and  Happy  New  Year  to 
all.  I  often  think  to  myself  and  wonder  if  I  am  really  here,  or  only 
taking  an  afternoon  nap  and  dreaming  it  all. 

I  have  been  at  my  wit's  end,  for  two  or  three  days  trying  to  think 
what  to  send  home  for  Christmas.  I  must  post  this  and  go  to  the 
stores  again. 

BERLIN,  Sunday  P.  M.,  December  15,  1895. 

I  am  glad  you  went  to  Boston  and  to  the  theatre.  Wrhen  I  first 
went  to  the  theatre,  I  used  to  think  it  was  sin!  Now,  I  think  one 
ought  to  go  once  in  a  while.  A  good  time  is  a  good  thing  if  it  is  the 
right  kind  of  a  time.  The  chief  actress  must  have  been  Olga  Nether- 
sole.  She  is  very  good  and — pretty  too. 

I  sent  you  a  little  package  of  photographs  (Berlin  views)  the  other 
day;  to  Kate,  a  breast  pin  and  earrings  (garnets),  to  father  a  knife, 
and  to  mother  (third  package)  three  silk  handkerchiefs  and  breast 
pin.  I  write  all  about  these  so  that  if  they  are  lost,  I  can  look  them 
up. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  285 

BERLIN,  Sunday  P.  M.,  December  22,  1895. 

Next  Wednesday  is  Christmas  day ! 

I  liked  your  last  letter.  It  was  well  written — easy.  And  praised 
me  so  much.  My,  what  praise  Dr.  Morgan  gave  me ! 

Several  evenings  ago  there  was  a  rap  at  my  door;  and  in  came  Hen* 
Wallroff.  He  didn't  know  why  I  hadn't  called,  etc.  His  wife  was 
waiting  downstairs.  They  invited  me  to  visit  them.  Friday  I  went. 

They  make  the  greatest  preparations  for  Christmas  here.  Every 
family  has  a  Christmas  tree. 


BERLIN,  January  1,  1896. 

Happy  New  Year! 

Last  night  is  what  they  call  here  Sylvester  Evening.  They  are  very- 
lively.  Everyone  stays  up  till  midnight,  and  in  the  street  they  go 
about  shouting  "Prosit  Neujahr"  ("Happy  New  Year")  to  everyone 
else.  The  noise  is  kept  up  till  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 


BERLIN,  January  5,  1896. 

You  will  be  surprised  at  my  next  sentence.  Mr.  Wallroff  is  dead 
and  was  buried  today!  He  had  a  stroke  of  apoplexy  in  the  city  and 
was  hurried  home  where  he  soon  died.  I  couldn't  believe  my  eyes 
when  the  news  came. 

It  was  only  a  week  ago  Friday  that  I  was  out  there.  He  came  out 
with  me  and  helped  me  down  the  steps,  and  shook  my  hand  and  said, 
"Auf  widersehen."  He  was  an  enormous  man,  strongly  built  and 
not  fifty  years  old.  I  went  to  the  funeral  services  in  the  house  today. 
The  coffin  was  piled  with  flowers  (I  sent  a  wreath,  too)  and  the  house 
filled  with  people. 

BERLIN,  January  14,  1896. 

This  morning  as  I  came  along  the  famous  street  called  "TJnter  den 
Linden"  it  was  lined  with  people  at  both  sides.  I  found  that  the 
Emperor  had  just  passed,  and  they  were  waiting  to  the  see  Chinese 
prime  minister,  Li-Hung-Chang,  pass  along. 

Generals,  etc.,  kept  going  in  carriages,  the  Empress  with  some  lady 
rode  by.  Prince  Henry,  the  Emperor's  brother;  and  then  we  waited. 
Pretty  soon  a  drove  of  lancers  (mounted  soldiers  carrying  lances 
with  little  banners  on  them)  appeared,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  in  a 
carriage  was  Li-Hung-Chang.  A  large  man  for  a  Chinaman,  and 
quite  old  but  having  a  bright  intelligent  face. 

General  Grant  said  when  he  went  around  the  world,  that  the  two 
greatest  men  he  met  were  Bismarck  and  Li-Hung-Chang. 


286  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

February  5,  1896. 

This  morning  after  my  lecture  at  the  University,  I  went  to  the 
funeral  of  the  Prince  of  Battenburg!  The  funeral  service  rather,  for 
he  died  in  Africa.  Do  you  know  who  he  was?  He  was  an  empover- 
ished  German  prince  who  married  Beatrice,  the  daughter  of  Queen 
Victoria. 

The  Emperor  attended  the  service  here.  His  pew  was  only  a  little 
way  from  the  one  that  I  sat  in. 

Seen  so  close  he  looks  stouter  than  I  had  thought  him  to  be.  The 
quickness  with  which  he  knelt  and  stood  surprised  me.  I  think  he 
would  beat  you  at  gymnastics.  He  did  it  like  a  flash. 

The  entire  British  embassy  was  there,  including  the  English 
ambassador,  Lord  Granville,  and  a  lot  of  young  officers,  who  strutted 
around  in  uniforms — but  they  acted  as  if  they  felt  that  they  were 
"showing  off." 

BERLIN,  February  12,  1896. 

Tonight  I  am  going  to  the  Ball !  The  Emperor  is  to  be  there  and 
everybody  worth  seeing. 

It's  to  be  the  great  event  of  the  season  and  I  thought  I  would  have 

to  go. 

***** 

Last  Sunday  I  returned  the  call  of  those  reverend  fathers — the 
friends  of  Father  Garrigan — and  was  well  received.  They  live  in  a 
Catholic  hospital.  It  is  quite  a  fine  building. 

***** 

Have  you  heard  of  the  new  discovery  in  photography?  They  can 
now  photograph  through  solid  substances,  a  man's  bones  for  instance, 
through  his  body. 

BERLIN,  GERMANY, 
Sunday,  A.  M.,  February  16,  1896. 
DEAR  MOTHER: 

I  have  been  to  the  Ball,  and  I  have  been  anxious  to  have  Sunday 
come  so  that  I  could  tell  you  all  about  it.  Well,  to  begin  with,  I  hesi- 
tated about  going  because  the  tickets  were  expensive.  But  then  I 
reflected  that  I  hadn't  been  out  much,  and  that  this  was  a  very 
important  occasion.  Then  Dr.  Barrows,  an  acquaintance,  asked  me 
to  go  with  him.  He  said  he  could  get  tickets  through  a  friend  of  his. 

That  was  good  because  tickets  are  often  engaged  months  in  advance. 
Well  he  got  the  tickets  and  called  for  me.  I  was  already  dressed  in  my 
best. 

We  came  to  the  Opera  House.  A  crowd  was  waiting  at  one  of  the 
doors.  Someone  said,  "That  door  over  there  is  open."  They  rushed 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  287 

like  mad  people  for  that  door.  A  woman  ran  against  me  like  a 
football  player  and  knocked  me  flat  on  the  sidewalk.  She  didn't  stop 
to  apologize.  Well  we  got  inside. 

Every  seat  in  the  House  seemed  to  be  taken  already,  and  there  are 
three  balconies  at  that.  Many  were  already  on  the  dancing  floor. 
That  was  directly  after  the  opening  of  the  doors  at  7.30  P.  M.,  and 
the  dance  was  not  to  begin  till  9  o'clock;  by  half  past  eight  the  floor 
was  so  crowded  that  you  couldn't  drop  a  peanut-shell  down  between 
them. 

I  had  a  good  place  to  stand,  elevated  three  or  four  feet  above  the 
dancing  floor,  and  there  I  stood  from  7.30  till  10.10.  So  I  had  a 
chance  to  look  around.  There  was  the  House,  first  of  all,  to  see.  It 
had  on  its  best  clothes,  too — out  in  the  corridors,  wreaths  of  palms 
and  ivy  trailing  along;  inside,  large  bunches  of  roses,  and  two  foun- 
tains in  the  rear  surrounded  with  palms. 

The  House  itself  is  decorated  in  white  and  gold,  red  hangings  for 
the  boxes,  and  angels  and  such  figure  paintings  flying  around  on  the 
ceiling. 

Then  the  people.  The  women  were  a  majority.  Silks  and  laces, 
and  diamonds.  The  dresses  were  neat.  The  colors,  white,  pink, 
light  blue,  yellow,  and  some  blacks. 

Among  the  men  some  swallowtails,  but  more  uniforms.  The 
officers  were  all  there — blue  trimmed  with  red,  uniforms,  mostly, 
and  breasts  covered  with  brass  and  medals.  At  9.10  a  host  of  princes 
and  princesses  swept  into  the  boxes,  the  Empress  leading  them.  She 
is  quite  handsome,  and  majestic,  and  she  looks  good  too.  She  bowed 
in  all  directions  toward  the  House  and  sat  down. 

Her  dress?  Well,  that  surpassed  all  the  others.  It  was  white  silk, 
embroidered  and  diamonds  stuck  all  over  it  wherever  they  could 
find  a  spot.  Around  her  neck,  the  William  Order,  made  of  diamonds, 
and  a  jaunty  little  crown  on  her  head  all  made  out  of  diamonds. 
W7ell,  she  looked  just  lovely. 

Then  they  crushed  back  the  people  a  little  under  her  box  and  in 
the  cleared  space  three  couples  began  to  dance  and  kept  it  up  for  an 
hour,  two  orchestras,  one  at  each  end  of  the  Hall,  giving  the  music. 

Meantime  I  got  a  little  peek  at  the  Emperor,  who  stood  back  in  the 
box  with  a  red  uniform  on. 

At  10.10  the  Empress  got  up,  bowed  in  all  directions,  and  then  left. 
Everyone  was  disappointed,  because  they  expected  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  to  lead  in  at  least  one  polonaise. 

But  the  dance  went  on.  Many  left  the  hall  and  then  wider  space 
was  cleared  for  dancing.  I  got  a  seat  and  looked  on.  I  stayed 
till  the  last  galop,  i.  e.y  till  2  A.  M.,  and  then  I  made  a  dash  for  my 
overcoat.  I  had  a  very  nice  time. 


288  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Don't  forget  your  breathing  exercises,  nor  your  gymnastics,  nor 
to  take  a  walk  every  day. 

How  is  everybody?     Love  to  all. 

Good  bye  for  today,  Mother, 

JIM. 

BERLIN,  Sunday  P.  M.,  March  1,  1896. 

Does  it  seem  possible  that  we  have  March  again,  and  that  I  have 
been  here  since  last  July,  and  that  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is  between  me 
and  North  Brookfield?  Well,  I  guess  it  is  so.  This  morning  was  one 
of  the  finest  that  one  could  see;  and  this  evening  it  is  snowing. 

I  met  some  acquaintances  of  the  Catalonia  last  Tuesday.  They 
invited  me  to  call.  So  I  went  around  this  afternoon.  They  seemed 
very  nice. 

The  Dutch  people  just  passed  my  door.  They  were  probably  going 
to  the  theatre  (open  Sundays  here).  They  go  almost  every  night. 
But  they  stay  only  about  a  month.  I  don't  see  how  they  stand  it. 

March  8,  1896. 

Just  had  dinner.  We  had  a  great  discussion  at  dinner  today.  I 
argued  with  an  Armenian  and  a  German  painter.  It  was  a  philosophic 
discussion. 

I  was  surprised  to  find  myself  talking  German  very  fast.  So  I  said 
to  the  Armenian,  "This  is  fine  German  exercise  for  me."  Then  they 
paid  me  a  number  of  compliments.  Of  course  I  was  very  much 
flattered. 

This  Armenian  is  a  very  smart  fellow.  He  looks  like  the  pictures 
that  one  sees  of  eastern  patriarchs — long,  narrow  face,  bushy  gray 
hair,  and  beard  and  very  large  brown  eyes. 

Do  you  know  something  about  the  Armenians?  For  several 
months  past  the  Turks  have  been  murdering  them.  They  are  a  very 
old  race  of  Christians  living  in  Asia  Minor.  The  Turks  are  Moham- 
medan you  know. 

I  wrote  a  couple  of  letters  to  the  Boston  Transcript  about  them. 

BERLIN,  Sunday  P.  M.,  March  29,  1896. 

That  pen-ink  sketch  of  yours  came  the  other  day.  I  showed  it  to 
all  at  the  breakfast  table.  They  all  thought  it  very  good.  Only 

Mrs.  — ,  the  painter's  wife,  who  always  wants  to  find  fault,  said 

it  ought  to  be  done  in  color,  I  said,  "She  can  do  it  in  color  too,  but 
generally  takes  larger  pieces  for  that." 

I  have  been  invited  out  this  afternoon,  and  it  is  about  time  to 
start.  So  I  must  make  my  letter  short. 

Oh,  I  went  to  the  Herren-house  the  other  day.  It  is  mostly  com- 
posed of  members  of  the  nobility  and  upper  classes,  mostly  bald- 
headed  men. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  289 

April  1,  1896. 

Everyone  is  playing  April-fool  jokes  in  the  house  today.  A 
Norwegian  girl,  at  the  breakfast  table,  had  some  coffee  poured  out  for 
her.  Before  she  came  in  they  had  put  salt  into  the  cup.  She  took 
a  sup  and  said,  "Oh,  my!"  Then  the  little  Englishman  called  for 
his  eggs.  They  were  brought  in  in  egg-cups.  He  took  up  his 
eggs  but  found  that  the  meat  had  all  been  taken  out  on  the  other  side. 
The  painter  after  breakfast  knocked  at  my  door,  and  asked  me  to 
read  an  article,  which  was  simply  nonsense. 

I  got  a  little  box  downtown  that  would  explode  when  opened  and 
gave  it  to  him. 

BERLIN,  April  12,  1896. 

I  went  yesterday  morning  to  visit  the  "Rathhous,"  that  is  the  City 
Hall;  and  in  the  afternoon  I  visited  an  art  exhibition. 

In  the  City  Hall  there  are  some  fine  decorations,  or  paintings,  done 
right  on  the  wall.  There  are  busts  of  their  prominent  men — particu- 
larly Bismarck,  Moltke,  the  different  emperors — at  every  turn. 

The  City  Hall  is  kept  up  in  style  I  tell  you.  It  doesn't  reek  with 
tobacco  smoke  like  the  Boston  City  Hall. 

The  name  of  the  gallery  is  the  Schulte  Exhibition  Hall.  It  is  in 
the  famous  street  Unter  den  Linden.  They  charge  a  mark  (25  cents) 
for  admission. 

The  artists  who  exhibit  there  are  mostly  the  newer  ones.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  the  average  was  not  better  than  in  Boston.  Some 
of  the  busts  were  especially  good — particularly  one  of  Nansen,  the 
man  who  is  trying  to  reach  the  North  Pole. 

BERLIN,  May  10,  1896. 

I  have  been  twice  to  the  Art  Exhibition.  It  is  awfully  large.  One 
gets  tired  of  seeing  so  many  pictures  and  walking  so  far.  Germany 
has,  of  course,  the  most  space,  and  particularly  Berlin.  It  has  four 
or  five  large  rooms  all  to  itself.  I  like  the  Berlin  pictures  very  well, 
too.  Then  Diisseldorf  has  several  rooms.  Dresden  has  a  room,  also 
Weimar;  and  particularly  Munich  is  worth  seeing.  Those  are  about 
the  only  German  schools.  But  there  are  pictures  from  every  country 
in  Europe  and  quite  a  large  exhibition  from  the  United  States.  This 
has  been  very  much  praised. 

BERLIN,  Wednesday  P.  M.,  May  27,  1896. 

I  am  taking  swimming  lessons!  It  is  good  exercise.  I  want  to  go 
in  swimming  every  morning  before  breakfast. 

May  31,  1896. 

I  went  yesterday  to  the  Spring  Review  of  the  troops  on  the  Tempel- 
hofer  Field.  I  told  you  about  going  to  see  the  Autumn  Review  last 
September.  I  had  to  get  up  about  six  o'clock,  and  get  to  the  field  by 


290  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  for  after  that  hour  the  streets  leading  to 
the  Field  were  closed  by  the  police.  As  it  was,  it  was  difficult  to  get 
through. 

Long  lines  of  Infantry,  and  Cavalry  and  Artillery  trains  were 
filling  the  streets.  Still  I  got  there.  At  nine  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  galloped  in.  The  Empress  had  her  own  regiment. 

After  a  while  the  troops  were  so  far  out  in  the  field  that  they  looked 
like  tulip  beds. 

The  Emperor  seemed  well  pleased  when  he  got  back.  He  shook 
hands  with  the  leading  officers. 

BERLIN,  July  5,  1896. 

Yesterday  was  my  Fourth  of  July  in  Berlin.  Like  Thanksgiving, 
Christmas,  New  Year  and  Easter  it  made  me  feel  rather  blue.  It  was 
a  raining  Fourth!  It  poured  and  poured — repeat  that  as  often  as  you 
like.  It  was  at  it  again  today. 

Not  a  firecracker,  or  a  tin  horn — and  no  bells  ringing.  Quite  a 
number  of  flags,  though,  especially  on  the  building  where  the  consul- 
general  has  his  office. 

Such  a  dead  lot  of  Americans — the  only  thing  for  the  day  was  a 
reception  at  the  ambassador's.  I  told  you  about  General  Rumyon 
who  died.  The  new  man  is  named  Uhl.  I  thought  at  first  that  I 
would  not  go  but  I  finally  thought  I  would.  So  I  called  for  my 
doctor  acquaintance — and  we  went  together. 

The  ambassador  is  a  western  lawyer,  tall  and  rather  imposing 
looking. 

The  flat  is  very  nice,  on  the  nicest  street.  The  rooms  were  well 
filled  with  nice  appearing  people  and  I  found  quite  a  large  number 
that  I  knew.  I  met  one  man  whom  I  knew  at  Johns  Hopkins  in  Balti- 
more, eight  years  ago.  His  name  is  Prof.  Blackmar.  He  belongs  to  a 
university  in  Kansas.  He  came  over  to  the  pension  today  and  took 
dinner  with  me. 

BERLIN,  July  12,  1896. 

After  I  leave  Leipsic  I  must  do  some  travelling.  I  will  go  to  Paris 
anyhow  and  then  I  presume  southward  toward  Italy,  and  visit  some 
of  the  North  Italian  cities.  I  spent  all  the  afternoon  yesterday  trying 
to  arrange  for  my  trip  home. 

The  Earl's  son  passed  through  Berlin  yesterday.  I  wasn't  here 
when  he  called  and  he  left  his  card,  giving  his  London  and  country 
address.  He  waited  a  long  time. 

HOTEL  DE  PRUSSE,  LEIPSIC, 
Wednesday,  July  22,  1896. 

It  is  a  week  since  I  came  down  to  this  city.  Did  you  know  that 
this  was  the  city  where  Napoleon  met  his  great  first  defeat?  It  was 
1812  and  the  armies  of  nearly  all  the  nations  of  Europe  hemmed  him 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  291 

in  here.  He  was  defeated  in  the  battle  (there  were  many,  all  around 
the  city)  but  he  managed  to  get  away,  and  get  back  to  France  again. 

They  say  here  that  it  was  in  the  old  hotel  that  stood  on  this  spot 
that  he  made  his  headquarters. 

I  must  see  Paris  before  I  go  back. 

MUNICH,  BAVARIA, 
July  26,  1896. 

I  left  Leipsic  Friday  morning  (early,  got  up  at  5  o'clock)  and  reached 
Nuremburg  a  little  after  4  P.  M.  I  couldn't  resist  the  temptation  to 
stay  over  night  in  Nuremburg.  It  is  now  just  about  as  it  has  been 
for  centuries.  There  is  a  deep  moat  around  the  city.  There  is  a 
high  wall  inside  that,  running  all  around. 

Then  the  oddest  gable  end  kind  of  old  weather  stained  houses, 
winding  streets,  running  up  hill  and  down.  There  is  a  hill  on  one 
end  of  the  city  and  on  top  of  that  hill,  and  covering  it,  is  an  old 
castle,  with  towers,  high  walls,  and  a  moat  down  below.  This  castle 
centuries  ago  was  the  home  of  the  Hohenzollern  family.  The  German 
Emperor  William  II,  you  know,  is  a  descendant  of  this  family. 

PARIS,  FRANCE,  August  2,  1896. 

You  see  I  am  here.  I  thought  I  couldn't  leave  Europe  without 
getting  a  peek  at  Paris. 

I  left  Munich  Thursday  morning  at  7: 13  (got  up  at  5 : 45)  and  came 

over  by  way  of Ulm,  Stuttgart,  Augsburg,  Karlsruhe,  Strasburg, 

Nancy. 

I've  been  through  the  Champs  Elysees,  the  Tuileries;  have  seen 
Notre  Dame,  the  Madeleine,  the  Arch  of  Triumph,  and  yesterday 
went  through  the  ancient  sculpture  room  in  the  Louvre.  Just  think 
of  it!  I  always  wanted  to  go  there.  Thousands  of  statues  there  but 
the  statue  of  the  Fighting  Gladiator,  the  Venus  of  Milo  and  the  bust  of 
Caesar  pleased  me  by  far  the  best! 

VENICE,  August  11,  1896. 

Arrived  here  this  A.  M.,  after  two  days  steady  travelling.  Have 
spent  the  day  seeing  churches,  etc.  Am  just  about  to  take  the  train 
for  Genoa  where  I  expect  to  be  on  the  stroke  of  twelve  tomorrow  and 
to  sail  on  the  "Elms"  the  next  day. 

St.  Mark's  and  the  Doge's  Palace  are  fine. 

DRESDEN. 

This  morning  I  visited  the  New  and  Old  Pinacothek — Picture 
Galleries.  The  Old  is  especially  good.  It  has  one  of  the  best  collec- 
tions of  Rubens'  pictures  in  Europe.  The  "Ascension  of  the  Virgin," 
by  Guido  Reni,  is  one  of  the  best  pictures  I  have  ever  seen. 


292  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

BERLIN,  August  25,  1896. 

I  must  tell  you  about  a  little  trip  I  made  last  Friday.  I  went  to 
that  part  of  Potsdam  that  is  called  Sans  Souci.  It  is  an  enormous 
park  in  which  there  are  long  walks,  fountains,  orchards,  and  here  and 
there  a  palace. 

It  is  the  place  where  the  German  Emperor  William  II  stops  or 
lives  rather  when  he  is  in  the  vicinity  in  summer.  (In  winter  he  stops 
at  an  enormous  castle,  700  rooms  in  it,  here  in  the  city.)  This  Sans 
Souci  was  the  favorite  spot  of  Frederick  the  Great  who  built  two 
palaces  in  it:  the  first  called  "Castle  Sans  Souci,"  and  the  other 
"The  New  Palace"  (where  the  present  Emperor  lives).  I  walked  to 
the  first,  through  long  avenues  of  trees  so  close  together  that  they 
scarcely  let  in  the  sun.  It  was  quite  cool  there.  At  last  I  came  to  a 
great  fountain;  outside  were  groups  of  statuary,  and,  between  the 
groups,  semicircular  marble  settees.  I  sat  there  for  some  time;  and 
then  started  for  "Castle  Sans  Souci"  which  was  on  an  eminence  above 
me,  the  approach  being  over  six  terraces,  one  above  the  other,  ar- 
ranged semicircular,  something  like  this!  (He  made  a  sketch  of  the 
terraces  and  indicated  where  the  flower  beds  were.) 

At  the  top  I  found  a  soldier,  striding  up  and  down  with  his  gun  on 
his  shoulder.  I  asked  him  if  I  might  go  in.  He  said  "yes,"  and 
pointed  out  the  way.  I  found  on  the  other  side  a  party  ready  to  go 
through  with  a  guide.  I  went  too.  The  rooms  were  not  very  large 
(this  castle  is  only  one  story  high,  but  it  covers  a  large  area)  but  they 
are  marvels  of  stone  work,  marble,  paintings,  frescoes,  and  inlaid 
furniture. 

There  was  the  desk  at  which  Frederick  the  Great  used  to  work,  and 
close  by  was  the  table,  on  which  was  a  clock  pointing  to  2: 10,  the  hour 
of  his  death. 

When  dying  he  sat  at  the  window  between  his  desk  and  table, 
looking  dowTi  towards  the  fountain.  He  was  poisoned,  with  his  dog, 
by  a  French  cook. 

In  another  room  are  all  sorts  of  animal  decorations  on  the  walls, 
ceiling  and  even  the  chairs  and  baskets — mostly  parrots,  apes  and 
monkeys.  Frederick  had  these  made  for  Voltaire  the  French  philoso- 
pher, whom  he  had  come  from  Paris  to  live  there  with  him.  But  they 
quarrelled,  and  as  Voltaire  looked  a  little  like  a  monkey  Frederick 
had  his  room  fitted  up  for  him.  There  is  a  monkey  at  each  end  of  the 
waste-basket,  and  you  cannot  avoid  seeing  a  monkey  whichever  way 
you  look.  I  was  pretty  tired  by  the  time  we  got  out.  But  I  wanted 
to  see  the  "New  Palace"  before  going  back  to  Berlin.  It  is  a  long 
distance. 

I  arranged  with  a  hack-man  to  drive  me  there;  wait  for  me,  and 
then  drive  me  to  the  station.  As  we  were  going  along  we  approached 
two  or  three  huntsmen  and  a  boy  ten  or  twelve  years  old.  The 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  293 

coachman  turned  toward  me  and  said,  under  his  breath,  "The  Emper- 
or's son!"  After  we  got  past  I  asked  if  I  understood  him  correctly. 
"Yes,"  said  he,  "the  crown-prince." 

We  passed  a  long,  low  building  which  he  said  was  a  stable.  At 
length  we  came  to  a  gate  where  there  were  three  soldiers.  As  the 
Emperor  and  Empress  are  just  now  away  visitors  are  allowed  to  go 
through  the  grounds  and  into  some  of  the  rooms  of  the  palace.  One 
of  the  soldiers  walked  with  me  across  the  grounds  toward  the  palace 
and,  as  we  came  to  the  palace  gate,  a  carriage  drove  up  in  which  were 
seated  two  boys.  One  was  the  crown-prince;  and  the  other,  his 
brother.  I  lifted  my  hat  and  the  crown-prince  lifted  his!  Another 
man  was  waiting  to  go  in,  and  an  attendant  showed  us  through  a 
large  number  of  rooms.  Some  of  them  are  simply  magnificent — one 
in  particular,  called  the  "Muschel  Zimmer"  or  "Shell  Room,"  is  an 
enormous  room  almost  circular,  perhaps  fifty  feet  high,  and  the  walls 
and  pillars  complete  masses  of  shells  and  precious  stones  from  all 
parts  of  the  world. 

The  following  very  brief  extracts  from  letters  which  James  Mahoney 
wrote  home  will  give  some  idea  of  his  travels  in  this  coimtry.  I  think 
I  am  right  in  saying  that  he  had  visited  every  place  of  importance  in 
New  England  and  most  of  the  important  places  in  the  United 
States.  It  was  his  custom  to  go  every  summer,  if  possible,  to  some 
new  place,  preferably  with  literary  or  historical  associations.  This 
developed  in  the  course  of  years  into  pilgrimages  to  the  homes  and 
birthplaces  of  leaders  in  thought  and  action,  as  Whittier,  Elizabeth 
Stuart  Phelps  Ward,  Longfellow,  Emerson,  Lowell,  Sanborn,  the 
Alcotts,  Hawthorn,  etc. 

HALIFAX, 
Sunday  Evening,  August  20,  1899. 

Got  here  this  P.  M.  on  the  ship  "La Grande  Duchesse"of  the  Plant 
Line.  Left  Boston  yesterday  at  4  P.  M.  We  are  going  on  to  Char- 
lotte town,  P.  E.  I.,  and  then  back  here  again;  then  through  Evange- 
line  country;  afterwards  to  St.  John,  New  Brunswick;  thence  by 
International  S.  S.  Line  (stopping  at  Bar  Harbor  on  the  way)  back  to 
Boston. 

CHARLOTTE-TOWN,  PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND. 

I  woke  up  this  morning  in  Prince  Edward  Island.  The  view  from 
the  boat  is  beautiful.  We  took  a  carriage  and  went  to  Davies  Hotel 
to  breakfast.  After  breakfast  we  took  a  carriage  and  drove  around  to 
see  the  place.  The  place  is  very  attractive.  Our  driver  didn't  join 
us  in  our  enthusiasm  about  the  beauty  of  the  place;  he  said,  "If  you 
lived  here  you  wouldn't  think  anything  of  it,  and  would  want  to  get 
out." 

This  is  market  day!  All  the  farmers'  teams  are  arranged  in  rows 
in  front  of  a  big  market. 


294  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

I  left  off  writing  to  you  yesterday  just  as  the  boat  was  about  to 
leave  Charlottetown.  I  enjoyed  the  sail  to  Hawkesbury  very  much, 
stayed  on  deck  nearly  all  the  time.  We  are  in  Halifax  again.  We  are 
going  to  stay  here  long  enough  to  see  the  place  before  going  through 
the  Evangeline  country. 

After  breakfast  we  took  a  carriage  and  driver  and  went  for  a  ride. 
This  is  an  old  fortified  city.  The  soldiers  were  drilling  and  we  drove 
over  there  first.  They  were  drawn  up  in  double  file  and  looked 
more  like  fancy  hitching  posts  than  men.  They  wore  red  coats  and 
white  hats,  bell  shaped.  There  are  a  thousand  in  all  but  all  did  not 
drill  this  morning.  Of  course  there  was  a  military  band.  Lord 
Seymour,  the  governor  general,  and  other  men  of  prominence  were 
there  and  took  part  in  the  exercises.  Next  we  went  to  the  citadel 
and  went  through  a  good  part  of  it.  There  is  a  drawbridge  and  moat 
there. 

The  name  of  our  boat  is  "La  Grande  Duchesse"  and  the  name 
of  the  little  boat  that  pulled  it  out  of  the  harbor  is  "Nellie." 

FREDERICTON,  N.  B.,  August  28,  1899. 

We  have  just  arrived  at  Queen  Hotel,  Fredericton,  N.  B.,  after  a 
most  delightful  sail  up  the  St.  John  River. 

We  are  having  a  fine  time.  Yesterday  we  went  through  the 
Evangeline  country  and  today  we  took  a  jump  across  the  Bay  of 
Fundy.  Kate  is  getting  to  be  a  great  sailor. 

The  St.  John  is  fine — the  day  was  glorious.  We  are  going  to  see  a 
little  of  this  town  and  catch  the  5  o'clock  train  back  to  St.  John, 
where  we  are  to  stay  till  Monday  and  then  try  to  reach  Bar  Harbor. 

Kate  got  a  stone  from  Evangeline's  Church  cellar.  Also  a  branch 
from  her  willows,  but  the  hotel  maid  took  the  branches  away.  To 
her  they  were  only  rubbish,  although  they  were  in  a  glass  of  water. 

We  attended  service  at  the  Cathedral  today. 

The  sail  up  the  St.  John  is  considered  as  fine  as  on  the  Rhine  or 
on  the  Hudson.  We  reached  home  last  night  at  11  o'clock.  We 
were  both  very  tired.  I  sat  out  all  the  time  as  I  felt  that  I  couldn't 
miss  any  of  it. 

EASTPORT,  MAINE,  Monday  Noon. 

Just  put  in  here.  Thought  to  take  train  here  for  Bar  Harbor,  but 
it  doesn't  leave  till  tomorrow  morning.  So  we  go  on  to  Portland  by 
this  boat,  getting  there  about  5  tomorrow  A.  M.,  there  the  R.  R. 
connections  will  probably  be  better. 

HAWTHORNE  INN,  EAST  GLOUCESTER,  MASS., 

July  22,  1900. 

I  have  come  down  here  again,  and  surprised  mother  and  Nell. 
Before  coming  here  I  went  to  Providence  to  see  Dr.  Milan.  His 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  295 

brother-in-law  and  family  were  just  going  to  Europe,  so  the  Milans 
got  up  a  little  party  for  them.  There  were  several  prominent  people 
of  Providence  there. 

I  called  also  at  Dr.  Cooke's  before  leaving,  but  he  was  away.  He 
heard  that  I  had  been  there  and  came  to  meet  me  at  the  train. 

APPLEDORE  HOUSE,  ISLES  OF  SHOALS, 

Monday  Eve,  1900. 

You  see  where  we  are — we  reached  here  about  6:30  this  evening. 
It  is  cool  here.  We  had  to  wait  about  three  hours  at  Portsmouth  so 
we  went  on  a  trolley  trip  to  Rye  Beach.  Mosquitoes ! ! ! 

Wednesday. 

I  want  to  tell  you  that  it  was  here  that  William  Morris  Hunt  was 
drowned.  He  had  a  room  in  the  Thaxter  cottage.  I  went  to  the 
place  where  he  was  drowned. 

Mr.  Choate  (son  of  the  American  Ambassador  to  England) 
invited  Kate  and  myself  to  go  with  him  and  Dr.  Norton  to  York 
Beach.  I  was  formerly  acquainted  with  him. 

We  went  to  Celia  Thaxter's  grave  yesterday,  and  crossed  the  Island; 
it  is  very  narrow  but  long  and  is  the  largest  of  the  nine  islands  that 
make  the  group. 

We  are  enjoying  everything  here  and  intend  to  stay  for  some  time. 

THE  HAWTHORNE  INN,  EAST  GLOUCESTER,  MASS. 

August^,  1909. 

I  was  in  Boston  till  last  Friday  when  the  heat  drove  me  out. 
Friday  was  the  hottest  day  of  the  year — awful  heat.  I  am  going  on 
to  the  Ocean  View  Hotel  at  Pigeon  Cove.  The  Brewers  live  near 
and  Mrs.  Brewer  puts  herself  out  a  good  deal  to  entertain. 

I  think  of  going  next  to  Brockton  to  visit  one  of  my  classmates,  Dr. 
Lyons,  who  has  often  asked  me  to  visit  him.  I  will  most  likely  go 
from  there  to  Newport  to  visit  Fr.  O'Neil. 

I  am  to  dine  with  the  Wards  here  tomorrow. 

MT.  WASHINGTON,  August  25,  1892. 

I  came  up  as  far  as  Mt.  Washington  yesterday  morning  and  stayed 
overnight  on  top.  It  was  raining  when  I  was  going  up ;  but  it  cleared 
up  a  little  later,  and  the  view  of  the  clouds  was  very  fine. 

I  went  up  on  the  tower,  which  is  6,344  feet  above  the  sea.  The 
view  from  Mt.  Washington  is  very  grand. 

I  saw  the  electric  machine  used  for  the  big  search  light.  The  ther- 
mometer was  46°  in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon.  Last  night  they  say 
there  was  snow  up  there. 

I  will  go  on  to  Bethlehem  today  and  will  probably  go  on  to  Burling- 
ton tomorrow. 


296  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

CHICAGO,  August  21,  1893. 

I  have  done  a  hard  day's  work :  To  begin  with  I  was  somewhat  tired 
— after  riding  a  thousand  miles — but  I  started  over  to  the  Fair  grounds. 

I  went  first  to  the  Eskimo  Village.  But  that  wasnt  much  of  a 
show — some  Eskimos,  reindeer,  Arab  horses,  a  skin  tent,  etc.  I  then 
went  to  the  Art  Building.  You  have  no  idea  of  what  a  building  it  is, 
gallery  after  gallery  till  my  legs  ached.  I  kept  at  it  for  about  four 
hours;  and  managed  to  see  in  a  very  hasty  way  only  the  Dutch  and 
United  States  pictures.  The  French  paintings  are  very  fine.  There 
are  many  there  by  the  greatest  French  masters,  as  for  example,  by 
Corot,  Carolus-Duran,  Daubigny,  Cazin,  Bougeraux,  Rousseau, 
Rosa  Bonheur,  Millet,  etc. 

I  liked  the  French  much  better  than  the  American;  perhaps, 
as  I  was  fresher  when  looking  at  them.  I  saw  the  names  of  several 
Boston  artists  and  some  of  their  pictures. 

I  shall  start  in  again  tomorrow. 

NEWPORT,  R.  I.,  August  10,  1897. 

I  finished  with  Prof.  Brale  Saturday  noon.  By  the  way,  he  used 
me  splendidly  and  wouldn't  take  a  cent.  He  is  going  to  do  work 
with  me  during  the  year  at  Harvard,  too.  As  I  finished  my  work  I 
thought  I  must  take  a  trip  so  came  down  here.  I  have  also  been  to 
Martha's  Vineyard  and  Nantucket. 

Extracts  from  James  Mahoney's  common  place-book,  kept  during 
the  last  ten  years  of  his  life: 

SOCIOLOGY 
Tyranny 

The  sufficient  cause  and  necessary  justification  of  tyranny  consists 
in  the  crass  selfishness  (treachery  and  meanness)  of  man  to  man:  i.  e., 
tyranny  is  inversely  proportional  to  brotherhood;    and  vice  versa: 
T:    I    orB:    I 
B'  T' 

Must  We  Not  Criticise? 

But  we  are  presumed  to  have  a  conception  of  God;  are  we  not 
allowed  to  have  an  opinion  of  a  man  whom  people  call  great?  "Oh, 
but  the  critics  don't  agree  with  you."  Truly?  Then,  let  us  hold  our 
peace. 

The  relation  between  national  characteristics  and  national  history — 
i.  e.,  environment,  in  its  true  sense— is  a  worthy  work  for  a  series  of 
historical  philosophers.  The  variation  in  national  character  which 
would  thus  be  illustrated  and  explained  would  afford  a  good  basis 
for  international  comity.  Gifted  races  would  hardly  look  upon 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  297 

themselves  as  "chosen  peoples,"  but  rather  as  fortunate  ones.     The 
Anglo-Saxon  superstition  would  disappear. 

A  man  who  has  no  great  power  of  thought,  and  yet  wishes  to  be  of 
influence  in  affairs,  seeks  first  to  get  the  good  will  of  people  rather  than 
to  cultivate  depth  of  thought;  in  fact,  he  considers  deep  thought  a 
disadvantage  to  him.  And  it  is  too. 

Shrewdness  and  cunning  are  more  than  a  substitute  for  profundity. 
These  qualities  enable  him  at  will  to  assume  the  appearance  of  wisdom 
but  relieve  him  of  the  embarrassing  earnestness  of  real  wisdom. 

The  purpose  of  English  instruction  is  to  secure  for  the  individual, 
according  to  his  capacity,  the  benefits  of  language  to  the  human  race. 
This  implies  a  constant  growth  of  power  (a)  through  the  expression, 
oral  and  written,  of  the  inner  experiences, — emotional,  mental  and 
spiritual, — leading  to  an  increasing  knowledge  and  control  of  self; 
(b)  through  the  expression,  oral  and  written,  of  the  outward  expe- 
riences of  life,  leading  to  an  increasing  knowledge  and  control  of  the 
relations  with  man  and  nature;  and  (c)  through  an  increasing  capac- 
ity for  knowledge  of  self,  humanity  and  the  world,  by  the  co-ordinate 
study  of  the  experiences  of  others  as  expressed  in  literature. 

Do  your  teachers  observe  and  record  the  traits  of  pupils,  such  for 
example  as  originality,  perseverance,  tendencies  to  investigate  for 
themselves? 

The  Dress  Suit  Case  Victim 

"I'm  a  Roman  Catholic;  pray  for  me,"  were  the  dying  words  of  the 
young  girl  who  was  at  once  cut  up  and  put  into  a  dress  suit  case  and 
thrown  into  the  harbor.  What  more  horrible  warning  to  our  Catholic 
mothers  could  possibly  be  given  to  keep  their  daughters  in  decent 
company  and  away  from  villainous  wretches  that  swarm  about 
theatres. 

The  first  step  wrongly  taken,  and  the  Bishop  hospital  and  the  Har- 
bor follow.  Mothers  pray  for  your  daughters  and  with  them  and 
keep  them  out  of  harm's  way. 

A  Fable  (In  Sociology) 

One  morning  three  Sphere-bugs  were  taking  the  air  in  their  favorite 
spots,  and,  being  tuneful,  their  voices  could  be  heard  above  those  of 
the  neighboring  tree-frogs. 

"I  believe  only  in  curved  lines,"  said  the  Surface-bug.  "You  are 
a  fool,"  retorted  the  Radius-Bug.  "My  creed  is  straight  lines." 
"  Cease,  vain  creatures."  cried  the  Centre-Bug.  "Could  you  but  enter 
this  Holy  of  Holies,  you  would  grow  in  the  Word  of  the  Sphere." 

Moral:     Look  above  your  nose. 

NOTE. — This  very  sarcastic  and  pleasing  little  thing  came  into  the  world  early 
one  morning  as  I  was  beginning  to  wake  up.  JAMES  MAHONET. 


298  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

The  Journal  and  the  Pocket-Book  Graft 

Dear  Journal:  Don't  get  so  excited  about  pocket-book  graft. 
When  we  have  stopped  grafting  in  the  stuff  that  goes  into  pocket- 
books,  the  pocket-books  themselves  will  be  only  melancholy  reminders 
of  the  past. 

Play  Grounds 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  supervising  children  too  much,  especially 
when  they  go  out  to  play. 

The  Milk  Supply 

By  all  means,  gentlemen  of  the  Health  Board,  let  our  milk  supply 
be  clean!  We  do  not  wish  the  milk  inspector  to  stick  his  fingers  or 
his  mustache  into  the  milk  that  we  are  to  drink.  Besides,  we  know 
that  epidemics  are  spread  by  unclean  inspectors  or  unclean  milkmen. 

Watch  out  for  the  bill  introduced  by  Senator  Treadway  providing 
safeguards  for  the  production  and  transportation  and  sale  of  milk. 

Much  more  general  attention  is  now  given  to  public  school  educa- 
tion and  to  the  public  school  teacher;  promotions  may  be  more  easily 
obtained;  chances  for  self-improvement  and  for  civic  service  are  now 
more  numerous.  Yet  real  success  in  securing  mental  and  moral 
development  in  pupils,  is  as  difficult  of  achievement  now  as  it  was 
twenty-eight  years  ago,  perhaps  more  so,  on  account  of  the  greater 
complexity  of  our  present  system. 

Politics  and  the  Schools 

For  twenty  years  the  slogan  of  the  school  reformers  in  Boston  has 
been,  "Keep  politics  out  of  the  schools." 

We  are  convinced  that  during  the  same  period  the  wish  of  the 
politicial  leaders  has  been  the  same  as  that  of  the  reformers. 

What  has  been  the  result?  The  School  Board  has  become  the  prey 
of  the  more  petty  type  of  politician.  The  little  lawyer  who  sought 
clients;  the  little  doctor  who  sought  more  patients;  the  little  bigot 
who  represented  a  spiteful  faction;  the  little  grafter  who  saw  a  chance 
for  personal  gain,  have  all  infested  the  school  department.  Of  course, 
there  have  been  honorable  and  able  men  and  women — but  they  have 
been  lonesome  as  a  rule. 

The  fact  of  it  is,  the  selection  of  candidates,  and  the  election  of 
members  for  the  School  Board,  are  essentially  political  acts;  in  which 
the  leaders  of  the  political  parties  bear  a  responsibility  which  they 
cannot  escape.  They  can  fail  to  do  their  duty,  and  allow  men  to  get 
on  the  School  Board  who  are  a  disgrace  to  their  party.  If  the  big 
politicians  do  not  act,  the  little  politicians  certainly  will.  It  is  a 
question  of  choice  between  municipal  politics  and  petty  ward  politics. 
To  put  men  upon  the  School  Board  who  will  work  earnestly  and  solely 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  299 

for  the  children  of  the  people  is  good  politics,  and  tends  to  keep  the 
responsible  party  in  power.  To  appoint  school  committeemen  of 
any  other  sort,  weakens  and  disgraces  the  guilty  party.  The  people 
of  Boston  are  not  indifferent  to  the  welfare  of  their  children. 

See  to  it,  political  leaders,  that  we  have  on  the  new  committee  of 
five,  earnest,  able,  honorable,  and  broadminded  men,  who  can  afford 
sufficient  time  to  study  school  conditions;  are  possessed  of  sufficient 
education  to  understand  educational  problems;  have  sufficient  insight 
into  the  nature  of  children  to  wisely  apply  their  knowledge,  and  are 
sufficiently  far  sighted  to  make  some  provision  for  future  needs. 

If  a  man  has  not  sufficient  talent  or  education  for  this,  he  is  unfit  for 
the  School  Board.  If  he  is  merely  famous  and  rich  and  honorable  he 
is  unfit  for  the  School  Board.  If  he  is  a  great  business  man  who 
cannot  spare  time  for  school  affairs,  he  has  no  business  on  the  School 
Board.  If  he  lacks  sympathy,  insight,  and  love  for  the  public  schools, 
he  is  absolutely  unfit  for  the  place. 

In  a  city  of  600,000  inhabitants  it  must  be  possible  to  find  five 
persons  both  able  and  willing  to  serve  on  the  new  Board. 

The  Shoe  Manufacturer  and  the  Panama  Canal 

We,  in  the  United  States,  are  looking  with  much  pride  at  the  Great 
Canal.  It  is  a  big  cut  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  we  made  it! 
But  are  we  not  thinking  rather  of  the  glory  of  the  achievement,  than 
preparing  to  take  advantage  of  it  as  a  highway?  What  preparations 
are  our  boot  and  shoe  manufacturers  making  to  use  this  new  opportu- 
nity to  increase  their  output?  The  Canal  means  cheap  freight  and, 
for  our  eastern  states,  a  new  chance  to  increase  trade,  especially  with 
the  countries  on  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  with  our  own 
Pacific  coast  and  with  Asiatic  ports ;  for  our  Pacific  states,  it  means,  of 
course,  similar  advantages  in  all  Atlantic  ports,  American  and  Euro- 
pean. It  is  already  time  to  anticipate,  to  survey  the  field,  to  make 
acquaintance,  and  to  establish  bases  of  operation.  Word  comes  that 
our  neighbors,  the  South  Americans,  both  East  and  West,  are  more 
keenly  alive  to  the  situation  than  we  are;  and  are  making  active 
preparations  to  meet  it.  May  success  crown  their  efforts! 

President  Wilson's  Mexican  Policy 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  Thursday,  Congressman  Gillett 
attacked  the  Mexican  policy  of  President  Wilson,  on  the  ground  that 
it  will  soon  lead  us  to  intervention  in  Mexican  affairs.  He  says  that 
the  administration  ought  to  have  recognized  Huerta,  who,  according 
to  the  congressman,  was  the  only  man  strong  enough  to  bring  order 
out  of  the  Mexican  chaos.  "Of  course,"  he  adds,  "Huerta  is  a  very 
bad  man,  but  it  is  not  the  business  of  our  government  to  examine  into 
the  lives  of  foreign  rulers,  but  its  first  motive  should  be  to  consider 


300  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the  interest  of  our  own  government."  We  hold  no  brief  for  President 
Wilson,  but  we  believe  that  his  policy  is  animated  by  what  he  regards 
as  the  highest  interest  of  the  United  States. 

It  is  far  from  certain  that  Huerta,  even  if  recognized  by  our  govern- 
ment, could  have  subdued  the  insurgents — in  fact,  it  seems  quite 
probable  that  he  could  not  have  done  so.  It  would  appear,  at  this 
distance,  that  Carranza  has  now  a  much  better  chance  of  establishing 
a  general  government  and  an  orderly  administration  than  Huerta 
ever  had.  It  would  seem  that  all  northern  Mexico  must  soon  be  in 
his  hands,  and  that  he  can  then  descend  upon  the  southern  states 
with  superior  force.  Meantime,  Huerta  is  facing  bankruptcy  and 
dissension  within  his  own  ranks.  But  quite  beyond  these  facts,  we 
believe  that  President  Wilson  based  his  policy  upon  a  higher  view  of 
our  national  duty  toward  other  nations,  and  especially  toward  neigh- 
boring states.  What  this  definite  duty  is  in  regard  to  Mexico  he 
made  very  plain  in  his  message  to  Congress,  last  August:  to  use  the 
powerful  moral  influence  of  the  United  States,  with  a  view  solely  to 
the  good  of  the  Mexican  people;  and  to  intervene  only  if  absolutely 
necessary.  He  practically  enunicated  the  lofty  principles  of  American 
duty  expressed  by  Webster  in  his  Bunker  Hill  orations.  How  could 
a  nation — whose  mission  in  the  world  is  to  increase  the  influence  of 
public  opinion;  to  advance  the  rights  of  peoples  and  to  promote 
constitutional  government, — how  could  such  a  government  recognize 
the  bloodstained  Huerta  regime?  But  you  answer  that  constitutional 
government  in  Mexico  is  an  absurdity,  that  90  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion is  illiterate  and  incapable  of  progress.  That  is  an  argument 
which  no  good  American  should  employ.  The  remedy  is  a  more 
thorough  system  of  education,  and  a  greater  measure  of  civil  liberty 
in  Mexico;  and  there  is  a  fair  prospect  that  that  may  be  attained 
from  the  constitutionalists  whose  struggle  is  against  despotic  govern- 
ment and  for  popular  rights.  It  is  stupid  to  assert  that  the  Mexican 
racial  stocks  are  incapable  of  progress.  Mexican  students,  both  of 
Spanish  and  of  Indian  extraction,  have  long  been  coming  to  our 
institutions  of  learning,  and  have  distinguished  themselves  by  their 
intelligence  and  industry.  As  for  those  of  Spanish  blood,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  prove  that  they  are  capable  of  progress  and  of  self-govern- 
ment. No  states  in  the  world  are  making  more  rapid  progress  than 
the  South  American  whose  population  is  very  like  that  of  Mexico. 

And  deep  were  my  musings  in  life's  early  blossom, 
Mid  the  twilight  of  mountain-groves  wandering  long; 

How  thrilled  my  young  veins,  and  how  throbbed  my  full  bosom. 
When  o'er  me  descended  the  spirit  of  song. 

— William  Cullen  Bryant. 


JAMES   MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  301 

EIGHTY-FOUR  CLASS  POEM 

Almighty  Soul,  that  fills  the  spring  with  growth, 
Doth  teach  the  flower  to  bloom,  the  star  its  distant  way; 
Renew  our  souls  from  out  the  fountains  of  Thine  energy, 
And  give  us  vision,  clear  through  the  dread  maze  of  life. 
Give  us  to  know  the  value  in  Creation's  scale, 
Of  standing  yet  again  upon  this  college  hill — 
Back  from  the  world  that  barters  human  life; 
Back  from  the  world  that  lies  and  steals  and  kills, 
And  wallows  in  the  mire  of  greed  and  lust — 
To  think  again  upon  our  ardent  youth, 
To  think  again  upon  our  better  selves, 
To  think  again  of  loved  ones,  seen  no  more, 
The  while  our  years  are  rolling  o'er  the  sky 
To  rise  into  the  Realm  of  Fellowship. 
Wherein  no  ruler  is,  but  each  a  sovereign  heart, 
Which  yields  not,  save  to  force  of  gentle  sympathy; 
Wherein  'tis  sweetest  object  of  our  greed 
To  know  a  brother's  heart,  and  know  it  true; 
O  Heart  Divine,  grant  that  we  closer  draw 
With  deeper,  finer  insight,  each  for  each, 
Till  from  our  hearts  united  in  a  battery  of  love, 
There  flow  a  mighty  current,  to  transfuse,  inspire, 
Until  this  ancient  Amherst  College  hill 
Glow  like  a  Mountain  of  the  Living  God. 
June  20,  1899. 

CLASS  POEM 

The  snow-clad  pines  are  moaning  on  the  lea; 
The  world  is  frozen  to  its  rocky  core; 

A  Babe  is  born  beyond  the  Midland  Sea, 

That  love  might  grow  within  us  more  and  more. 

The  winds  are  howling  o'er  Manchurian  plains, 
And  Arthur's  Port  bursts  with  the  fires  of  hell; 

While  in  our  joyous  hearts  the  Babe-king  reigns, 
Our  songs  are  ringing  over  hill  and  dell. 

A  paean  high,  for  '84 ! 
A  paean  strong  and  high! 
Crash  down  the  towers  of  silence 
\Vith  a  mighty  midnight  cry: 
Our  class  shall  never  die ! 
Go,  ringing  through  the  aether, 
Up  to  the  Throne  on  High: 
Our  class  shall  live  forevermore! 
Our  class  shall  never  die! 


302  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

The  wintry  storms  sweep  down  the  sky; 

The  wind  is  bitter  cold: 
Within  the  ground  our  comrades  lie; 

Their  flesh  is  turned  to  mold. 

Yet  through  the  binding,  icy  snow, 

That  smites  us  in  the  face, 
We  seem  to  see  their  sad  eyes  glow; 

Their  features  we  can  trace. 

But  when  we  fain  would  clasp  the  form, 
The  outstretched  hand  would  seize, 

Then  madly  mocks  the  midnight  storm, 
Our  bones  within  us  freeze. 

Forgive,  O  God  of  Silence, 

Our  vain  and  foolish  cry; 
Send  down  Thy  mercy  and  Thy  love, 

That  our  class  may  never  die. 

The  ages  stride  across  our  feast, 

Down  to  an  empty  tomb; 
Within  the  portals  of  the  East 

Gigantic  figures  loom. 

Across  the  black  abyss  there  swells 

A  mystic,  magic  song; 
And  as  we  sing  our  chorus 

The  mighty  tones  prolong. 

"Beat  high,  beat  high,  ye  merry  hearts! 

Beat  high,  ye  hearts  of  gold! 
Sing  high,  sing  high  your  merry  songs, 
As  in  the  days  of  old!" 

A  paean  high  for  '84! 
A  paean  strong  and  high! 
Our  class  shall  live  forevermore! 
Our  class  shall  never  die! 
Crash  down  the  towers  of  silence 
W'ith  a  mighty  midnight  cry: 
While  warm  love  glows  within  our  hearts, 
Our  class  shall  live  forevermore! 
Our  class  shall  never  die ! 
December  30,  1904. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

THE  '84  CASTLE 

Our  castle  walls  we've  builded 

On  Holyoke's  High  Hill. 
The  stones  were  hewn  in  Monson; 

Bill  At.  will  pay  the  bill. 
Its  turrets,  domes,  and  pinnacles 

Go  mounting  to  the  sky. 
If  Chick  would  take  the  mortgage  off 

Our  hopes  would  mount  as  high. 
Within  the  mountain's  bowels 

Are  wines  and  spirits  rare, 
But  Charley  Smith  witholds  the  keys; 

To  touch  them  none  may  dare 
Unless  perchance  at  midnight 

The  friends  upward  soar 
And  slyly  turn  the  spigots 

And  deep  libations  pour, 
While  the  mighty  mountain  rocks  and  reels 

With  yells  for  '84. 
But  their  revels  soon  are  ended, 

Their  drinking  bout  is  o'er, 
For  the  gallant  F.  Smith  hoseman 

Floods  of  water  on  them  pour. 
For  the  waters  of  the  river 

Round  about  the  mountain  flow; 
The  channel  down  below  the  base 

Was  dug  by  Walter  Low. 
See  where  the  main  tower  fronts  the  East 

To  greet  the  morning  light; 
Its  gracious  length  unfolding 

Floats  the  Purple  and  the  White 
The  castle's  built  in  grandeur, 

Such  as  ne'er  was  seen  before; 
There's  nothing  too  magnificent 

For  the  Class  of  '84. 
The  columns  are  of  hammered  gold, 

Jim  Pat  sent  on  the  ore; 
The  walls  with  gems  are  crusted 

From  Billy  Wheeler's  store. 
There's  nothing  too  magnificent 

For  the  Class  of  '84. 
The  Council  Chamber's  lofty  dome 

Views  the  sky  through  crystal  glass. 
Round  the  walls  in  ordered  dignity 

Are  the  banners  of  the  Class. 


304  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

But  the  pride  of  all  our  castle 

Is  the  Library's  noble  hall; 
The  forest,  mine  and  ocean  cave 

With  their  riches  deck  its  wall. 
Just  in  the  center  of  the  floor 

Stands  a  case  of  burnished  gold; 
Your  eye  will  ope  with  wonder 

As  its  massive  doors  unfold. 
With  wonder  and  amazement 

Upon  its  contents  look 
Reclining  on  its  jewelled  bed 

Our  Memorabilia  Book. 
Then,  as  a  secret  spring  you  touch, 

With  your  hand  you  shade  your  eye, 
As  memories  of  the  bygone  years 

With  our  Loving  Cup  arise. 
Then  after  meditation 

With  new  hope  your  eyes  you  raise, 
And  upon  our  splendid  portraits, 

Ranged  about,  with  pleasure  gaze. 
But  as  you  look  and  marvel, 

Your  look  becomes  a  stare 
"Ah,  Sir!  I  beg  your  pardon 

But  did  I  hear  you  swear?" 
The  pictures  look  and  talk  at  you 

As  you  upon  them  look, 
They're  run  by  a  kineamatograph 

With  Joe  Tommy's  photo  hook. 
There  in  the  center  at  the  front 

Is  a  youth  both  tall  and  fair, 
A  smile  upon  the  youthful  face 

Although  his  skull  is  bare, 
But  though  his  face  is  smiling 

By  his  pensive  brow  you  see 
That  thoughts  are  surging  through  his  brain; 

Perhaps  he  thinks  of  me, 
Perhaps  he  thinks  of  John  and  Will, 

Perhaps  of  Marguerite  Fair, 
Perhaps  he's  building  castles 

That  are  not  in  the  air: 
Perhaps  he  thinks  of  Mrs.  At., 

Or  of  coal  mines  in  the  West; 
Perhaps  he  thinks  of  stocks  and  things, 

Perhaps  of  Hampton  West; 
"Perhaps,"  "perhaps,"  there's  no  "perhaps" 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  305 

Your  guessing  now  give  o'er, 
I'll  tell  you  what  he's  thinking, 

He  thinks  of  '84. 
Now  he  of  all  our  mighty  class 

Is  the  only  Summa  cum, 
Now  ope  your  mouth  and  yell  like — 

Blow  horns  and  beat  the  drum. 
But  who  is  that  beside  him? 

A  man,  not  tall,  nor  fat, 
With  a  merry  twinkle  in  his  eye 

As  he  turns  his  face  to  At.? 
You,  poet,  do  not  know  him? 

The  merry  gods  forbid! 
'Tis  he,  boys,  'tis  our  Arthur! 

He's  our  best,  our  only  kid. 
Though  you  should  live  forever, 

And  this  universe  explore, 
You'll  never  find  a  better  friend 

Than  this  Kid  of  '84. 
Now  every  man  a  magnum, 

Filled  full  with  love  galore, 
And  drink  about  and  yell  and  shout, 

For  this  Kid  of  '84. 
The  Kid's  himself  a  magna, 

And  besides,  there  are  magnas  four, 
All  honor  to  these  honor  men, 

Of  the  Class  of  '84. 
And  next — good  Lord,  'tis  Billy! 

Our  scribe  of  '84! 
All  up,  my  boys,  fling  wide  your  throats, 

And  roar  and  roar  and  roar! 
Class  reunion,  1911. 

CLASS  POEM 

Delivered  at  the  Twenty-Sixth  Annual  Reunion  of  the  Class  of  Eighty- 
Four,  Amherst,  Held  at  Boston,  December,  1909 

The  burning  sun  of  June  beats  down  upon  me 

As  I  lie  within  the  grass;  the  breeze  comes 

Laden  with  a  thousand  odors  of  the  vine,  wild  rose  and  clover; 

Above  me  points  the  finger  of  the  College  Church; 

And  yonder,  clad  in  blue,  the  everlasting  range. 

The  leaves  all  rustle  on  the  trees,  and  the  warm  air 

Is  vibrant  with  the  songs  of  birds,  and  loudly 

Sings  my  heart  unto  my  soul  which  loudly  sings  again : 


306  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

The  sun  is  bright, 

The  sky  is  blue: 
My  heart  is  warm, 

And  glad  and  true. 

Yon  solid  mount 

Will  ever  last. 
The  fire  within 

Our  soul  burns  fast. 

And  the  sun  is  fire, 
And  the  earth  is  mold ; 

My  heart  is  lonely, 
Sad  and  cold. 

Yet  fire  is  life, 

And  in  its  glow, 
The  heart  of  man 

And  God  I  know. 

But  even  as  I  sang,  my  eyes  did  gaze 

Beyond  the  pointing  spire;  the  blue  dissolved, 

Like  fairy  mist,  and  opened  to  the  infinite, 

Resplendent  in  its  every  varying,  complex  unity, 

Wherein  the  gleaming  world  of  soul  and  spirit  shines 

Through  height  and  depth;  and  from  the  heights  supreme 

Appear  two  mighty  beings,  who  forge  the 

Almighty's  will  in  Height  and  Depth  through  all; 

The  one,  all  light  and  motion,  and  through  his 

Being  surged  the  upbuilding  energy  of  Almighty  God; 

The  other,  dark  and  awful  was;  and  ever  would 

The  dark  one  stay  the  hand  of  the  all-glowing  angel : 

And  I  heard  the  Upbuilder  say: 

"Not  yet,  thou  Scavenger  of  God,  not  yet!" 

"Recording  angel,  bring  again  the  book  of  Life." 

Then,  as  a  third,  from  out  the  Innermost  came  forth, 

The  Upbuilder  said :  The  Universe  of  time  and  space 

Doth  glow  and  throb  in  its  minutest  part 

By  the  all-potent,  new-Creating  Force,  and  yet 

As  I  with  the  Almighty's  Might  and  His  Creating  Fire, 

Struggle  in  agonizing  world  generating  action 

'Gainst  the  death-dull  cold  of  Everlasting  Void : 

I  climb,  I  mount,  I  build  my  spirit  dome 

O'er  everlasting  arches  of  true  hero  souls. 

Yet  were  I  not  supported  by  the  Omnipotent  Hand 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  307 

I'd  faint  with  fear  that  all  Creation  round 

Would  vanish  at  a  touch,  and  ne'er  upbuild  again. 

I  strive  with  agony,  and  all  God's  Creatures 

Tremble  as  I  strive  lest  they  slip  back, 

Unto  that  final  death.     In  this  ne'er  ending  strife 

I  look  for  reflex  succor  from  souls  like  mine 

Who  were  endowed  with  will  and  knowledge 

Of  this  eternal  battle  waged  'gainst  the  Almighty  God. 

And  even  as  he  spoke  I  was  aware  of  a  huge  dial, 

Bronze,  with  iron  hands,  fastened  by  bolts 

Upon  Eternity's  black  wall;  and  as  I  gazed 

I  heard  the  mighty  hammer  clang 

Full  five  and  twenty  strokes  that  echoed 

Back  again  through  all  Eternity: 

And  from  a  dome  above  the  dial,  came 

A  troop  of  black-robed  maidens  who  together  sang : 

Their  years  are  onward  speeding, 
Their  hearts  are  all  unheeding, 
The  waves  of  time  are  rolling, 
The  bells  of  fate  are  tolling, 
The  guns  of  battle  booming, 
The  smoke  of  battle  glooming 
O'er  city,  hill  and  sea. 

The  maidens  vanished  and  the  Upbuilder  spoke  again: 

"And  now  a  quadrant  cycle  has  yon  point 

Of  light  traced  on  that  dial  since  a  band 

Of  such  I  placed  on  that  old  globe 

Of  inert  mud,  that  spins  in  drunken  circles 

Round  that  unstable  mass  of  burning  gas 

By  which  I  mark  the  lower  verge 

Of  the  Creation's  bound;  these  I  formed 

Of  thrice  refined  matter,  from  deep  wombs 

Of  noble  mothers;  and  I  placed  them  there 

To  fight  the  battle  on  the  lower  verge : 

Tell  me,  Recording  Angel,  have  any  fallen 

Prone  within  that  mud,  and  love  the  slime 

Instead  of  God,  if  any,  say,  and  by 

The  hand  of  this  Destroying  Angel,  I  will 

Smite  him  to  the  void."     "Nay,"  replied 

The  Recorder,  "  nay,  for  did  any  catch 

The  toe  in  mud,  the  eye  did  turn 

Toward  God." 

Again  the  Upbuilder  asked :  "Have 


I  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Any  sold  the  precious  fire  within  their 

Souls  for  that  foul  trash  of  earth?     Keenly 

Look  and  answer,  Angel  of  the  Book." 

"O  Architect  of  Souls,"  replied  the  Recorder, 

"Thou  didst  place  them  there  to  work  in 

Slime  and  metals,  and  though  some  at  times 

Have  bent  the  eye  to  earth,  the  nobler 

Heart  doth  draw  them  back  to  God." 

"Look  yet  again,  Bookkeeper,"  said  the  Angel, 

"Hath  any  pierced  with  bitter  gibe 

A  loyal  Comrade's  Soul;  or  traitor 

Proved  to  Comrade  tried  and  true 

In  that  fierce  battle  of  the  lower  verge? 

If  any,  say,  and  by  this  Scavenger  of  God 

I'll  cast  him  on  the  Universal  Dump." 

"Not  yet,  my  Angel,"  spoke  a  voice  from 

Out  the  Innermost;  "turn  back 

The  Constellations  in  their  course 

And  all  review  again";  and  while  he  spoke 

I  hear  the  backward  whir  of  suns  and  planets, 

And  in  a  flash  the  ancient  College  stood 

Again  as  in  our  youth  it  stood; 

And  up  the  hill  came  trooping  merry  lads 

With  upturned  faces,  and  with  jest  they 

Sang  of  love:  the  angel  smiled  as  to  us 

Came  the  words  of  one  fair  youth,  so 

Tall  and  slender,  as  he  jocund  sang: 

My  Sue,  she  is  a  daisy, 

To  her  I'll  e'er  be  true: 
For  she  has  a  lip  like  a  rosebud  tip, 

And  her  eyes  are  painted  blue. 

And  into  Chapel  trooped  they  in  a  motley 

Group;  and  up  arose  in  majesty 

The  royal  form  of  Seelye  and  with  sonorous  voice 

He  read  the  Sacred  Writ;  again,  another 

Scene,  and  surely  that  is  Socrates 

Or  Tyler  there  who  teaches  Greek  and  speaks 

Of  worth  and  high  nobility !    And  look ! 

In  Walker  Hall  through  the  windows  streamed 

The  sunshine  o'er  eager  faces,  all  with  earnest 

Eyes  as  falls  the  sunshine  on  the  master 

At  his  desk,  of  swarthy  hue,  and  dark  and 

Gleaming  eye,  his  voice  and  mind 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

And  sentence,  all,  as  crystal  clear, 
As  with  charmed  words  he  spoke  of 
Mind  and  Soul;  of  matter  and  of  God. 
And  on  and  on  the  scenes  like 
Lightning  fled  before  me;  and 
Past  all  College  days,  and  then 
The  rush  and  turmoil  of  this  seething  life: 
One  moment  shone  the  light,  immovable, 
Above  a  fresh  made  grave :  about  it  grew 
The  briar  and  ivy  and  over  it  a  stone,  on 
Which  I  read: 

We'll  love  thee  till  our  life  depart, 

O  Garman  of  our  heart ! 

We'll  love  thee,  while  our  hearts  are  kind, 

O  Garman  of  our  mind ! 

We'll  love  thee  while  the  seasons  roll, 

O  Garman  of  our  soul ! 

A  sharp  pain  pierced  my  heart  and 

With  a  start  I  did  awake;  and 

Stamping  through  the  daisies  and 

The  clover  came  groups  of  classmates 

With  wives  and  children  fair. 

And  loud  they  sang,  and  fast 

The  children  ran,  and  played 

Among  the  clover  white  and  red : 

And  merry  were  they  all,  but 

As  they  sang  methought  I  saw 

A  teardrop  in  the  eye: 

Old  Amherst  fair  we  come  to  praise 
Thy  beauty  and  thy  might! 

Our  guides  and  friends  of  other  days 
Are  with  us  here  tonight. 

We  drink  to  them  with  all  our  heart, 

A  bumper  to  the  brim, 
Our  love  for  them  will  ne'er  depart, 

Their  memories  ne'er  grow  dim. 

Our  Garman  of  the  flashing  eye, 

Our  Seelye's  front  of  Jove, 
Our  Tyler's  wrinkled  face  descry, 

With  piety  and  love. 


310  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Our  Harry  Wilbur,  Hastings,  too, 

Our  rosy  Fiske  and  Hyde, 
And  other  comrades,  tried  and  true, 

With  us  they'll  e'er  abide. 
They  are  not  dead,  they're  here  tonight, 

But  on  the  other  side. 

And  as  the  battle  we  renew, 

For  righteousness  and  right; 
Our  guides  and  comrades,  tried  and  true, 

Will  fight  for  us  with  might. 

Come,  pile  the  roses  on  the  board, 

And  raise  the  sacred  wine: 
Our  minds  with  memories  are  stored, 

Our  hearts  with  love  divine. 

Almighty  God,  we  bow  to  Thee, 

With  humble  thanks  and  praise, 
Thou'st  given  us  this  day  to  see: 

Still  lengthen  out  our  days. 

To  S.  W.  W.* 

Yet  once  again  I  entered  through  that  door — so  quickly  open  to  the 

knock  of  all — 
The  Gracious  Lady  is  not  there — her  pictures,  her  books,  her  flowers, 

but  not  herself! 
"Up  to  the  Larger  Hall" — and  there  in  awful  silence,  like  a  queen, 

she  lay. 
In  awful  silence,  save  for  floweret  bells,  that  tinkle  music  which  the 

spirits  hear; 
Her  keen  eyes  gaze  beyond  the  distant  stars,  her  keen  ears  hearken 

for  the  voice  of  God. 
O,  grant  that  at  that  gentle  touch  those  Wondrous  Portals  of  the 

Mighty  Dome, 

Which  crown  the  Structure  of  the  Azure  Heights,  swing  wide  in  wel- 
come to  the  newest  guest, 

Who  loved  and  wrought  for  Beauty,  Truth  and  Goodness,  here  below. 
*  Mrs.  Sara  W.  Whitman. 


September  18,  1905. 
Quick  from  the  Blue,  a  call  to  God! 
His  noble  head  now  sinks  in  death, 
And  lies  where  glows  the  goldenrod. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  311 

Dead!  dead!  Collins,  dead! 
Flashing  forth  with  lightning  speed, 
Words  of  horror,  words  of  dread. 

Bows  the  peasant  in  despair, 
In  the  dark-green  distant  isle; 
Murmurs  deep  a  heartfelt  prayer. 

By  Columbia's  eastern  shore 
Cries  of  grief  arise  and  swell 
Arise  and  swell  for  evermore. 

Mourn,  mourn,  O  city,  proud, 
Drape  your  streets  in  solemn  black, 
Wrap  your  chieftain  in  his  shroud. 

The  bells  are  slowly  tolling, 

The  Chief's  last  call  has  come, 
Not  on  the  engine  rolling 

Through  the  startled  city's  hum; 
Down  to  the  grave  there  calling 

John  Eagan's  clay  today, 
On  their  knees  in  silence  falling 

The  people  weep  and  pray. 


Who  would  not  die  in  the  fire, 

With  his  soul  purged  clear  for  his  God, 
Than  to  live  with  his  soul  in  the  mire 

And  to  rot,  without  soul,  in  the  sod? 


THE  SUMMONS* 

Fresh,  up,  my  folk!     The  blazing  signals  glow; 
Bright  from  the  North  breaks  Freedom's  light. 
Deep  in  the  foeman's  heart  thy  steel  must  go; 
Fresh,  up,  my  folk !    The  blazing  signals  glow. 
The  harvest's  ripe,  ye  cutters,  linger  not! 
Our  highest,  holiest  Good  lies  in  the  blade ! 
Press  deep  the  spear  within  thy  loyal  heart: 
A  road  for  Freedom  make — wash  clean  the  glade, 
Thy  German  soil;  with  life-blood  part. 

It  is  no  such  strife  as  warriors  royal  crests, 
It  is  a  crusade,  'tis  a  holy  strife. 
Law,  Virtue,  Faith,  and  Conscience  on  it  rests; 
*  NOTE  :  I  do  not  know  whether  this  is  an  original  poem  or  a  translation. 


312  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Then  from  thy  very  breast  the  tyrant  wrests, 
Recover  them,  and  with  them  Freedom's  Life. 
Thy  grayhaired  mother  moans  and  cries:  "Awake." 
Our  cots  in  ruins  stand  and  curse  the  robber-band; 
Thy  daughter's  shame  cries  out  for  vengeance  sake; 
For  blood,  thy  murdered  sons  struck  down  by  secret  hand. 

Heaven  shields,  and  Hell  must  yield  us  ground 
"Up,  valiant  people,  up,"  cries  Freedom,  "up." 
High  beats  thy  heart,  thy  lofty  oaks  abound; 
Why  fret  thyself  about  thy  corpses'  mound? 
High  plant  aloft  our  freedom's  standard  up. 
There  stand  ye  then  my  folk  by  fortune  blessed, 
In  thy  ancestral,  sacred  Victory's  glow, 
Forget  the  faithful  fallen  not;  and  rest 
An  oak- wreath  on  our  urns  below. 

Break  up  the  ploughshare,  let  the  chisel  fall. 
The  lyre  be  still;  the  loom  in  silence  stand. 
Depart  from  out  thy  court,  from  out  thy  hall; 
Before  this  face  thy  banners  rise  and  fall; 
He  wills  his  folk  to  see,  an  armed  band. 
For  him  a  mighty  altar  shalt  thou  build, 
Its  top  the  morning  glow  of  freedom  gild, 
Thy  sword  its  deep  foundation-stone  shall  lay; 
His  temples  rise  aloft  on  heroes'  clay. 


FIRE  WORSHIP 

The  embers  glow, 
The  fires  renew, 

My  heart  is  warm 
And  glad  and  true. 

The  sun  bursts  forth, 
The  daisies  bloom : 

The  seeds  of  life 
Throb  in  the  tomb. 

The  lark  sings  high 
Within  the  blue; 
My  heart  is  warm 
And  glad  and  true. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  313 

WHERE  Do  WE  STAND  IN  PHILOSOPHY? — WHERE  DOES  DR.  HICKOK 
STAND? 

In  order  to  determine  our  position  we  must  define  the  limits  of  the 
sphere  within  which  the  position  is  to  be  determined,  i.  e.,  we  must 
define  Philosophy;  and  also  we  must  assume  that  we  know  absolutely 
how  far  advance  has  been  made  in  it;  in  other  words,  we  must  assume 
that  we  know  what  have  been  the  great  problems  and  also  the  direction 
philosophic  thought  must  take.  In  this  assumption  we  will,  farther 
along,  find  ourself  justified  by  the  nature  of  the  mind;  and  without 
it  we  could  not  decide  what  was  progress  or  retrogression,  and  so  we 
could  not  give  even  relative  position  but  only  historical  connection 
of  so-called  philosophers,  and  I  think  we  would  have  no  abiding 
certainty  for  this.  But  with  this  premise  we  may  endeavor  to  find 
what  are  the  great  questions  and  systems  of  the  age,  to  find  their 
position  in  the  great  chain  of  human  thought,  and  so  their  relation  to 
the  systems  of  history. 

Great  authorities  agree  essentially  in  defining  philosophy  as  the 
"universal  science"  which  must  accordingly  make  and  justify  univer- 
sal classification.  This  it  can  do  only  by  finding  the  central  governing 
principle  of  all  things. 

The  direction  of  philosophic  thought  in  history  is  toward  the  end 
indicated  by  the  definition.  We  find  ancient  Philosophy  striving  to 
find  the  central  principle  of  the  multitudinous  forms  of  nature,  to 
which  attention  is  first  called.  The  search  leads  up  to  mind;  then 
comes  the  question  of  "What  is  mind?"  and,  then,  "How  comprehend 
them  both,  what  is  the  relation  between  them?" 

Plato  and  Aristotle  tried  to  answer,  but  the  dualism  still  was  found 
and  thought  still  sought  the  solution.  For  thought  cannot  rest  till 
all  dualisms,  multiplicities  and  antagonisms  are  explained  and  com- 
prehended. Accordingly  that  system  which  has  justly  and  compre- 
hensively classified  by  piercing  into  the  world  principle  is  worthy 
of  the  name  Philosophy,  and  all  that  fail  to  do  this  must  resign  their 
title. 

Dr.  Hickok's  system  claims  to  be  a  Philosophy.  We  will  try  to 
express  it,  and  then  by  applying  it  to  the  great  problems  in  the  history 
of  thought,  and  to  the  particular  questions  and  systems  of  the  age, 
we  will  attempt  to  find  Dr.  Hickok's  absolute  and  relative  position, 
and,  thereby,  also  that  of  those  with  which  we  compare  him. 

Unlike  the  child  philosophers  of  Ionia  Dr.  Hickok  finds  it  necessary 
to  begin  Philosophy  with  Psychology.  For  the  mind  is  the  source  of 
both  affirmation  and  denial,  and  when  we  have  found  its  powers  and 
method  of  acting  we  will  be  ready  to  enter  Ontology,  i.  e.,  to  examine 
the  nature  of  that  which  it  affirms  to  exist  and  also  to  determine  the 
course  which  thought  must  take.  As  Dr.  Hickok  says  in  his  Rational 
Psychology,  "It  may  also  be  affirmed  that  the  compass  of  all  future 


314  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

knowledge  is  thus  given.  Unless  new  intellectual  faculties  are  given 
us  we  must  henceforth  know  within  the  same  intellectual  laws  as  now 
we  know."  Common  experience  retested  by  scientific  mind  shows 
that  the  intellectual  process  is  sensation,  consciousness,  knowing, 
feeling,  and  willing;  and  that  there  are  three  intellectual  faculties: 
(a)  The  Sense,  whose  work  is  defining,  distinguishing  and  connecting 
the  content-in-consciousness.  (b)  The  Understanding,  whose  office 
is  to  (1)  form  laws  on  conceptions  by  factoring  the  product,  of  sensa- 
tion ;  to  (2)  shut  these  conceptions  within  one  another  by  the  syllogism, 
and  to  (3)  represent  in  memory,  (c)  The  Reason,  an  intuitive 
faculty  which  shows  the  infinite  Space  and  Time  that  contain  the 
Place  and  Period  of  the  sense,  gives  the  induction  of  cause  and  effect 
needful  to  guide  the  understanding  in  arranging  the  confused  and 
ceaseless  shower  of  impressions  upon  the  sense  into  an  orderly  experi- 
ence— and  it  gives  this  causality  not  by  noticing  the  antecedence  and 
consequence  of  the  mind's  wishes  and  body's  actions,  as  Geulincx 
and  scientists  say,  but  by  a  knowledge  of  nature  of  Force;  it  gives 
axioms  of  mathematics,  the  principles  of  physics  and  the  cognitions 
of  beauty  and  goodness. 

None  of  these  can  possibly  be  derived  from  the  sense  and  so  cannot 
be  formulated  by  the  understanding,  and  yet  their  validity  as  princi- 
ples of  the  mind  cannot  be  questioned  for  a  moment.  The  closest 
scientific  investigation  reveals  thus  what  our  faculties  are. 

The  validity  of  the  examination  rests  upon  self-consciousness — 
whose  authority  we  must  affirm  even  while  we  deny  it.  To  have 
obtained  these  faculties  and  functions  thus  validly  is  of  great  service 
in  answering  our  question.  For  since  the  mind  is  the  instrument  by 
which  is  made  all  affirmation,  doubt  and  denial  of  existence,  appearance 
and  non-existence,  the  standing  of  philosophers  and  systems  may  be 
determined  by  the  thoroughness  of  their  knowledge  of  this  instru- 
ment's functions  and  by  the  accuracy  with  which  they  use  them  in 
obtaining  their  respective  products  and  the  exactness  with  which 
they  arrange  these  products.  From  the  data  of  the  two  lower  faculties, 
we  affirm  the  two  great  series  of  natural  facts,  the  physical  and 
psychical  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  Reason — which  thus  works  in 
harmony  with  the  lower  faculties  and  from  the  occasion  given  by 
them — sees  the  necessity  of  supernatural  facts.  So  to  the  great 
question  of  the  Socratic's,  "What  is  man?"  Dr.  Hickok  replies  in  the 
line  which  they  themselves  suggested, "  A  self-conscious  being  endowed 
with  the  above-mentioned  faculties." 

To  the  great  question  of  the  Pre-Socratic  Philosophy,  "What  is 
nature?" — which  must  strictly,  though  not  historically,  follow  the 
Socratic  question — he  replies,  "It  is  given  by  the  sense,  as  certain 
qualities  or  appearances  which  are  arranged  by  the  understanding 
rule  orderly  laws,  and  explained  by  the  reason  as  expressions  of  sub- 
stantial space-filling." 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  315 

Force,  of  two  kinds,  mechanical  and  spontaneous,  when  pressed  to 
the  great  question  passed  down  by  ancient  to  modern  philosophy, 
"What  is  the  relation  of  mind  to  matter,  to  nature?"  he  is  able  to 
reply,  "That  of  subject  to  object  which  are  thus  mutually  knowable," 
and  this  he  can  do  without  falling  into  the  endless  controversy  of 
Mind  vs.  Matter  and  Subjective  vs.  Objective,  by  reaching  the 
mediatorial  ground  of  Reason  which  finds  the  solution  in  answering 
the  deeper  question,  "What  is  God?"  The  Reason  affirms  that  God 
must  be  Absolute  Rationality  and  beyond  Him  and  His  products 
there  can  be  nothing  and  so  declares  imperatively  that  the  laws  of 
thought  are  the  laws  of  things,  and  it  can  do  this :  for  as  self-conscious 
human  Reason  emerges  from  the  depths  of  Being,  by  its  direct  insight 
into  its  own  valid  objective  existence  and  so  into  the  nature  and 
archetypes  of  objective  being,  it  declares  that  "Nothing  but  reason 
and  its  products  can  exist,  that  rationality  cannot  come  from  irration- 
ality, that  the  source  of  all  that  is  both  nature  and  man  is  Absolute 
Rationality,  which  must  thus  be  of  self-existent,  self-conscious,  self- 
determining  and  so  creative  Rationality. 

Self -existent,  for  if  it  could  cease  to  be,  it  would  at  some  time  cease 
to  be  rational;  self-conscious,  for  if  it  were  blind  and  undesigning  it 
would  be  irrational;  self -determining  and  personal,  for  if  determined 
from  without  it  would  no  longer  be  absolutely  rational;  and,  if  not 
personal,  it  would  be  mechanical  or  spontaneous  and  would  need  a 
rational  ground  in  which  to  rest.  So  by  Reason's  insight  into  itself 
are  explained  the  deeper  facts  of  Psychology:  The  Ideas  of  Truth, 
Beauty  and  Goodness  in  their  high  unity  even  in  God;  the  profound 
desire  for  worship,  which  of  all  things  perhaps  lies  deepest  in  the 
human  soul,  is  satisfied  and  we  find  the  universe-embracing  for- 
mula, "the  laws  of  thought  are  the  laws  of  being  and  the  diffi- 
culties of  Universal  vs.  Particular,  Subjective  vs.  Objective,  Mind  vs. 
Matter  are  solved  by  the  high  principle  of  a  personal,  creative  God. 
In  the  unity  thus  proposed  to  the  demand  of  Science  we  find  the 
Principles  of  the  Eleatics  and  the  Ideas  of  Plato,  but  without  that 
rigidity  which  could  not  account  for  particulars;  we  find  the  Becoming 
of  Heraclitus,  the  uoos  of  Anaxagoras  and  the  "pure  Form  working 
toward  the  Entelechy"  of  Aristotle,  for  the  Deity  is  creative,  but 
without  the  in-themselves-existing  "homoio  merceae"  or  "matter"; 
for  there  is  no  occasion  for  positing  this  irreconcilable  duality  which 
split  the  systems  of  Anaxagoras,  Aristotle  and  Decartes,  and  which 
Malebranche  and  Geulincx  had  to  overcome  by  a  deus  Machina,  just 
as  if  the  Spirit  even  could  pass  the  gulf  between  itself  and  pure 
Matter.  Rationality  cannot  come  from  Irrationality  and  so  finds  it 
absurd  to  posit  an  Unknowable  as  the  central  principle  as  did  Spinoza 
and  Spencer,  or  a  blind  "Will,"  like  Schopenhauer,  or  an  intelligent 
(?)  Unconscious  like  von  Hartmann,  or  in  Fantasy  like  Forschammer 
or  in  Dissolution  like  Mainlander. 


316  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

He  does  not,  like  Hamilton,  Mansel,  Spencer  and  others,  find  the 
Absolute  unthinkable  on  the  ground  that  "to  think  is  to  condition" 
for  the  laws  of  thought  are  the  laws  of  being;  and  so  he  is  not  compelled 
to  creep  to  the  Absolute  under  cover  of  Faith  like  Hamilton  and 
Jacobi  or  by  Feeling  like  Schleiermacher  nor  to  believe  in  it  by  com- 
mand of  Will  like  Kant  while  reason  is  found  unreliable.  For  these 
men  try  to  make  the  conditioned  understanding  do  the  work  of  the 
unconditioned  Reason  and  confuse  the  products  of  the  two. 

All  those  systems  which  try  to  doubt  or  to  deny  the  existence  of 
Reason,  from  the  milder  types  of  Positivism  through  the  milder 
grades  of  Empiricism  to  the  rankest  Agnosticism,  show  that  their 
very  denial  affirms  the  existence  of  Reason  and,  at  the  same  time, 
they  reveal  their  indiscriminate  use  of  the  faculties,  the  undeveloped 
state  of  their  psychology  and  their  incompetency  to  meet  the  demand 
of  the  universal  science  which  calls  for  unity.  The  influence  of  Kant, 
on  the  one  side,  and  Locke,  on  the  other,  largely  controls  these  schools, 
which  might  almost  be  called  the  typical  systems  in  England,  Ger- 
many and  France,  and  their  influence  in  Scotland  and  America  is 
very  considerable.  The  leaders  are  such  men  as  Spencer,  Mill, 
Diihring,  Loge,  Littre,  Dumont  and  Bain. 

They  strive  to  prove  that  the  absolute  is  unattainable,  for  to  attain 
it  is  to  condition  it  to  bring  it  under  our  laws  of  thought  which  are 
as  they  are  because  we  are  made  as  we  are  by  evolution  or  otherwise; 
they  allow  "facts"  but  make  all  knowledge  relative.  But  all  the 
while  they  assume  that  their  deductions  are  valid;  they  divide  up 
the  universe,  call  this  knowable  and  this  unknowable,  may  Force  and 
comprehend  the  world  of  mind  and  matter  under  associational  and 
evolutionary  development  of  mechanical  laws,  all  this  while  they 
would  derive  all  our  knowledge  from  the  sense  and  understanding, 
not  noticing  that  this  theory  is  according  to  itself  a  complex  idea. 
Try  as  they  will  they  cannot  avoid  making  absolute  statements  and 
trusting  their  faculties,  however  much  they  confuse  them  in  their 
operations.  The  light  of  Reason  shines  out  as  clearly  as  ever  though 
it  be  called  "indefinite  consciousness"  or  a  "complex  idea."  But 
while  claiming  the  validity  of  the  Reason's  postulates  and  thus  closing 
the  door  to  Agnosticism,  Dr.  Hickok  allows  full  weight  to  the  products 
of  the  sense  and  understanding,  claims  that  the  reason  is  not  a  pro- 
phetic faculty  but  works  only  under  the  occasion  given  by  the  sense 
and  understanding,  and  so  must  identify  itself  and  its  acts  in  one  whole 
of  Space  and  Time  and  so,  unlike  Hegel  and  possibly  Renouvier,  he 
is  not  open  to  the  charge  of  making  Reason  a  mere  thought  notion, 
and  accordingly  he  escapes  such  subjective  Idealism  as  Fichte's. 
Also  by  showing  that  through  the  sense  we  do  not  perceive  things-in- 
themselves  but  only  phenomena,  he  is  able  to  show  that  there  is  no 
contradiction  between  the  faculties  and  so  overthrows  universal 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  317 

Pyrrhonism,  which  the  Scotch  school  with  its  tactual  and  direct 
perception  theory,  cannot  do.  The  position  of  the  characteristic 
schools  of  the  age  is  found  thus  in  their  incomplete  psychology,  in 
their  failure  to  properly  answer  the  question,  "What  is  man?"  and  so 
their  failure  to  properly  answer  the  questions  which  depend  upon  that. 
And  Dr.  Hickok,  who  has  roundly  developed  his  psychology  both  from 
the  empirical  and  rational  or  rather  a  priore  standpoints,  may  proceed 
into  Ontology  seeking  more  thoroughly  to  answer  the  question, 
"  What  is  God?"  "  What  is  relation  of  man  to  God?"  "  What  is  the 
relation  of  man  to  man?"  This  he  has  sought  to  do  and  by  deepening 
his  self -consciousness  and  being  guided  by  Revelation,  he  finds  God 
to  be  the  Holy  Trinity  having  its  counterpart  in  man  the  Image  of 
God,  in  the  legislative,  judicial  and  executive  self  united  in  self- 
consciousness;  he  finds  man  to  be  the  highest  work  of  God  in  that  he 
is  like  unto  Him  and  has  a  will  independent  of  His  will;  and  with 
this  foundation  in  his  Moral  Science  he  finds  the  various  relations 
and  duties  which  ensue. 

It  may  be  well  to  add  that  the  Hegelians  and  Eclectics  in  America, 
England  and  Scotland  are  working  in  the  same  general  direction  with 
Dr.  Hickok. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 

DR.  HICKOK'S  PHILOSOPHY  AS  BEARING  ON  AGNOSTICISM 

I  wish  to  point  out  some  difficulties  that  I  have  found  with  state- 
ments of  the  writer: 

I.  As  to  the  relation  between  sense,  understanding,  reason  and  the 
essence  or  entity  of  the  individual  ego.  "The  mind  can  immediately 
know  only  its  own  states  and  acts,"  p.  92,  col.  1.  "The  mind  can  be 
immediately  conscious  only  of  itself,"  p.  94,  2d  col.  "We  possess 
another  and  higher  faculty  viz.  reason,"  p.  92,  2d  col.  "An  idea 
.  .  .  is  the  insight  reason  has  into  its  own  capabilities,"  p.  94, 
1st  col. 

Here  an  entity  called  "mind"  seems  to  be  assumed,  which  is  self- 
conscious;  but  it  is  said  to  have  a  faculty  which  is  self-conscious 
or  has  insight  into  itself.  Would  it  not  be  less  confusing  to  say  that 
an  idea  is  the  "insight  the  ego  has  into  its  own  capabilities?"  Or  self- 
consciousness  of  the  ego  respecting  its  capabilities? 

If  we  make  reason  thus  a  type  of  self-consciousness  what  shall  we 
call  sense  and  understanding?  Shall  we  call  them  greater  or  less 
degrees  of  self -consciousness  than  the  reason?  Perhaps  we  may  get 
a  hint  from  p.  91 , 1st  col. :  "  Sensation  is  wholly  without  consciousness 
but  conditional  for  the  mind  to  awake  to  activity."  Can  it  be  that 
it  is  conditional  for  consciousness  in  the  same  way  that  it  is  conditional 
for  music  that  the  diapason  begin  at  a  lower  rate  than  16  per  second 
though  as  yet  there  is  no  music?  Or  are  they  three  different  kinds  of 


318  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

consciousness  belonging  to  three  different  elements  of  the  mind, 
making  the  mind  a  compound? 

But  essentially  different  elements  could  never  unite  into  a  unity 
of  consciousness.  Or  would  it  be  better  to  say  that  reason  is 
self-consciousness  of  the  nature,  and  sense  and  understanding  self- 
consciousness  of  the  specific  capabilities  of  the  mind?  Thus  making 
sensation  the  product  of  the  action  of  the  external  upon  the  mind 
and  the  mind's  reaction?  But  the  postulates  of  reason  as  given  in 
self-consciousness  are  not  given  as  descriptive  of  the  nature  of  self 
but  are  conclusions  of  the  self-respecting  the  non-self. 

II.  As  to  the  relation  of  individual  ego  to  divine  Ego. 

"In  knowing  itself  human  reason  affirms  that  its  existence  is  not 
independent  but  derived."  "Thus  in  knowing  itself  as  finite  it 
knows  the  Absolute,"  p.  95,  2d  col. 

Hegel's  statement  (accepted  by  writers). 

"The  notion  of  the  infinite  is  not  separable  from  the  reality." 

"The  mind  can  be  conscious  only  of  itself,"  p.  94,  2d  col. 

There  seems  to  be  contradictions  here.  That  which  is  human, 
finite  dependent  and  derived  and  which  can  be  conscious  only  of 
itself,  is  conscious  of  infinite  time,  space  and  of  an  infinite  omniscient 
God,  though  the  notion  of  these  cannot  be  separated  from  the  reality. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  see  how  any  thing  human  and  finite 
apprehension  of  itself  could  ever  come  to  an  understanding  of  the 
infinite,  or  if  it  did  how  it  could  knowingly  trust  its  finite  human 
reason  (?)  in  dealing  with  infinite  subjects.  It  seems  to  me  when  we 
give  the  watch  such  a  "knowledge  of  itself  as  God  may  be  supposed 
to  have  of  it,"  we  give  it  a  little  more  than  finite,  human  reason, 
unless  we  make  finite  human  reason  synonymous  with  infinite  divine 
Reason. 

It  is  possible  that  a  distinction  between  qualitative  and  quantitative 
knowledge  can  explain  these  apparent  difficulties.  I  can  hardly  see 
how  such  a  distinction  is  applicable.  But  in  that  the  mind  knows 
the  nature  of  the  infinite  and  presumes  to  say  in  many  ways  what 
God  is  and  what  he  is  not,  may  it  not  be  that  God  endowed  the  parti- 
cle of  being,  the  individual  ego  with  something  of  his  own  omniscience 
also,  as  well  as  with  some  of  his  own  being.  For,  since  God  could  not 
create  the  essence  of  the  ego  from  nothing,  if  this  ego  has  any  distinct 
identity.  Will  or  self,  must  we  not  suppose  some  such  vulgar  theory 
as  this  that  God  tore  this  particle  from  his  own  bosom  in  which  it  had 
been  conscious  of  the  glory  of  the  Entire  and  consciously  swelling 
that  glory  in  its  degree,  and  now  that  it  is  separate  remembers  its  for- 
mer abode  and  retains  its  own  glory  subject  to  its  choice?  But  is  it 
not  absurd  to  suppose  that  God  can  thus  "tear"  Himself?  Must  we 
not  grant  Him  at  least  as  much  as  we  do  the  atom  that  he  is  "indivis- 
ible and  immutable."  Looking  at  it  from  the  other  side,  must  not 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  319 

all  force  be  one,  and  since  "the  existence  of  anything  except  minds 
and  their  product,  is  a  ...  contradiction"  (p.  94,  2d  col.)  is 
not  all  force  mind  force  and  since  space  and  time, — which  are  the  ways 
force  acts — are  one,  does  this  not  focus  all  minds  into  one  essence,  no 
matter  how  varied  the  expression  may  be? 

III.  If  we  have  noumenal  knowledge  of  self  in  the  manner  claimed 
does  this  do  anything  else  than  establish  relativity  of  knowledge? 

Page  90,  2d  col. :  "Hence  we  can  be  sure  of  nothing  .  .  .  till 
we  know  the  laws  of  mind  and  their  trustworthiness."  Does  this 
imply  that  at  any  time  the  mind  does  not  know  its  laws  and  can  be 
certain  of  nothing  till  it  does  know  them?  If  this  be  so  it  would  have 
to  know  its  laws  before  it  knew  them  in  order  to  be  certain  that  it 
did.  And  as  to  their  trustworthiness  what  else  can  it  do  but  trust 
them,  and  if  at  any  time  they,  as  he  thinks,  play  him  false  in  thinking 
them  false  he  must  still  think  them  true  since  they  give  the  thought. 
But  that  is  just  what  he  would  have  to  do  if  they  were  complete 
liars. 

"Does  the  mind  know  itself?" 

"That  the  mind  knows  absolutely  its  own  acts  must  be  admitted," 
p.  95,  2d  col. 

"The  postulates  of  Reason  are  the  insight  .  .  .  has  into  its 
own  capabilities"  p.  94  .  .  .  mind  knows  itself  absolutely 
.  .  .  it  not  knew  that  it  knows  itself?  If  then  it  knows  that 
it  knows  itself  will  any  mind  ask  itself  if  it  knows  itself?  Will  any 
of  the  great  minds  of  the  world  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  do 
not  know  themselves?  If  we  know  ourselves  absolutely  is  not 
empirical  psychology  useless  since  it  seeks  to  show  us  what  we 
already  know?  Is  its  office  solely  to  classify  the  intuition?  In  any 
of  our  intuitions  do  we  look  directly  into  the  marrow  of  our  souls? 
Do  we  in  any  of  our  intuitions  look  directly  into  the  essence  of  the 
egc?  Or  is  the  ego  simply  given  as  a  postulate  in  the  intuition, 
which  directly  deals  with  the  nature  of  that  which  is  not  self,  so 
that  the  ego,  like  Adonis  at  the  brook,  knows  itself  by  reflection, 
by  observations  upon  its  acts?  Would  the  mind  if  left  absolutely 
alone  ever  know  itself?  So  that  "sensation"  or  "the  effect 
produced  on  us  by  outer  agencies"  is  conditional  for  the  mind  to 
awake  to  activity?" 

And  so  would  we  substitute  the  word  acts  for  self  in  the  above  ques- 
tion? And  now  may  we  say  "that  the  mind  knows  absolutely  its 
own  acts  must  be  admitted?"  But  to  say  we  have  absolute  knowledge 
of  self  is  very  different  from  saying  we  have  absolute  knowledge  of  a 
state  or  act  which  is  but  a  particular  relative  condition  of  self.  Phe- 
nomena are  declared  to  be  seen,  thus  postulating  a  perceiver,  without 
further  intuition  into  the  perceiver's  nature  than  that  it  perceives 
the  phenomena.  No  being  is  viewed  externally,  but  simple  existence 


320  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

is  postulated  of  an  interior  perceiver  of  the  perception.  All  depends 
on  the  validity  of  the  postulate.  "To  know  that  I  dreamed  last 
night  is  to  possess  in  this  one  particular  absolute  noumenal  knowl- 
edge," p.  94,  1st  col. 

But  to  say  that  I  dreamed  is  but  to  say  that  I  was  not  completely 
self-conscious,  or  more  fully,  I  was  completely  self-conscious  that  I 
was  not  completely  self-conscious.  If  this  is  a  fair  interpretation 
shall  we  say,  "Such  must  be  the  mind's  knowledge  of  all  phenomena?" 
How  is  it  that  a  mind  which  acknowledges  that  last  night  it  knew 
itself  so  incompletely  that  it  took  phantoms  of  its  own  creation  as 
realities  and  so  little  conscious  of  its  own  identity  that  perhaps  it 
identified  itself  with  one  of  those  phantoms,  how  can  it  declare  it  has 
absolute  self -consciousness?  And  when  we  consider  that  by  a  blow 
on  the  head  we  may  become  "insane"  and  completely  change  our 
identity  considering  ourselves  as  So  and  So,  and  change  thus  through 
a  series,  shall  we  consider  ourselves  as  a  specific  self -knowing  identity 
or  as  an  "illuminated"  (?)  relative  condition  of  the  Unknown.  "To 
say  that  the  mind  cannot  know  its  own  states  absolutely  is  a  contradic- 
tion." We  must  assume  this  but  that  is  what  we  would  assume  last 
night  when  we  identified  ourselves  with  the  phantom. 

If  I  were  asked  to  answer  my  own  difficulties  I  would  say  that  all 
talk  about  an  unknowable  and  perception  and  phenomena  is  "trash" 
except  as  it  rests  upon  the  fact  of  personality,  and  with  personality 
erased  phenomena  unknowable  and  all  are  erased;  and  yet  self -con- 
sciousness is  an  extremely  variable  quantity  and  its  lower  limit  of  non- 
existence  is  more  easily  approached  then  its  upper  limit  of  complete 
consciousness.  If  the  mind  knows  itself  only  by  its  acts,  and  the  act 
is  elicited  by  the  environment  which  is  relative  and  particular,  if 
confessedly  only  phenomena  and  not  realities  are  apprehended 
externally  and  the  self  does  not  apprehend  itself  directly,  but  indirectly 
by  resting  on  appearances,  would  not  a  different  environment  cause  an 
entirely  different  self -apprehension? 

But  to  say  there  is  a  perception  presumes  a  perceiver  prior  to  the 
perception.  But  was  that  perceiver  prior  to  the  sensation  a  formless 
potential?  Is  the  protozoon  the  first  formative  stage  of  the  actual- 
izing of  the  potential?  And  are  all  other  forms  of  life  more  and 
more  complex  stages  of  the  same,  assuming  different  forms  according 
to  environment?  But  to  say  there  is  a  formless  potential  of  personal- 
ity is  virtually  a  contradiction,  for  a  potential  of  personality  is  not 
formless.  For  personality  implies  a  formating  unit  which  is  self,  and 
a  unified  formulated  experience  which  perhaps  might  be  called  uni- 
verse and  God.  Such  would  be  my  own  partial  answer  to  myself. 
And  think  it  would  lead  me  to  deny  the  statement  on  p.  91,  1st  col., 
"sensation  is  wholly  without  consciousness."  I  think  it  would  cause 
me  to  admit  that  the  moment  the  remotest  nerve  began  to  tingle  that 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  321 

moment  the  unification  of  experience  begins,  and  self  begins  to  be 
revealed  to  self. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 

THE  RELATIVITY  OF  KNOWLEDGE 

Mr.  Spencer  thinks  the  relativity  of  our  knowledge  can  be  shown 
by  an  analysis  of  the  product  of  thought  or  by  an  analysis  of  the 
process  of  thought. 

I.  The  Product  of  Thought.     Mr.  Spencer  claims  that  the  explana- 
tion of  appearances  consists  in  classification,  and  thus  we  get  mathe- 
matical, chemical  and  physical  truths.     Now  this  process  of  classify- 
ing must  be  either  infinite  or  finite.     If  infinite,  the  relative  nature  of 
our  knowledge  at  once  appears,  since  ultimate  explanation  could 
never  be  reached;    if  finite,  it  follows  that  the  last  explanation  is 
inexplicable,  for  it  would  have  to  be  classed  to  be  understood. 

Dr.  Hickok  claims  that  we  can  explain  more  profoundly  than  this, 
that  we  have  noumenal  knowledge  in  self-evident  truth  and  induction 
of  force. 

I  prefer  Dr.  Hickok's  view,  (a)  because  I  think  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  recognize  before  cognizing,  i.  e.,  I  think  the  first  step  in  Mr. 
Spencer's  classification  would  be  impossible,  (b)  I  think  we  have 
intuitions  of  force  and  principle  which  are  as  valid  as  that  I  think. 
(c)  And  without  these  I  think  classification  would  be  impossible: 
for  without  the  direct  connection  of  effects  with  causes,  the  same 
object  could  not  be  identified  with  itself  owing  to  paralax  and  ever- 
varying  conditions  of  observance,  so  that  the  same  object  might  belong 
to  an  infinite  number  of  classes;  and  in  this  way  to  classify  a  multi- 
tude of  objects  would  become  quite  confusing. 

II.  By  Process  of  Thought.     The  absolute  or  infinite  cannot  be 
known  or  thought  since  thought  necessitates  (a)  relations  between 
thinker  and  object,  so  that  which  is  without  relations  cannot  be  known; 
(b)  distinction  between  objects  of  knowledge,  but  the  infinite  cannot 
be  distinguished  from  the  finite  for  they  have  no  common  differential 
characteristics,  so  the  infinite  cannot  be  known;  (c)  likeness  between 
objects  of  thought.     But  since  there  are  no  common  integral  char- 
acteristics between  the  finite  and  infinite,  so  the  infinite  cannot  be 
known  since  it  cannot  be  classed.     If  it  be  objected  that  this  would 
prevent  a  first  cognition  Mr.  Spencer  says  our  experiences  are  gradu- 
ally arranged  in  groups  (as  if  time  made  any  difference) . 

Dr.  Hickok  claims  we  have  intuition  of  an  absolute  personal  First 
Cause.  I  am  inclined  to  the  latter  because  (a)  I  think  my  idea  of 
cause  is  as  valid  as  any  of  my  ideas;  (b)  thinking  the  first  cause  does 
not  limit  the  first  cause  in  any  way  providing  our  laws  of  thought  are 
its  laws  of  being;  (c)  furthermore,  Mr.  Spencer's  view  doesn't  really 
contradict  Dr.  Hickok's  because  his  absolute  is  obtained  (see  F.  P., 


322  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

p.  74)  by  the  abstraction  of  all  predicates,  even  of  existence,  so  that 
his  absolute  is  absolutely  nothing;  (d)  if  the  laws  of  thought  are  the 

laws  of  things  then  Mr.  Spencer's  arguments  of  Relation,  Dis and 

Difference  will  disappear,  for  there  will  be  relation  without  restricting; 
power  to  distinguish  between  the  finite  and  infinite  because  of  having 
cognitions  of  each,  and  no  necessity  for  finding  likeness  between 
finite  and  infinite  because  each  is  known  in  itself. 

III.  Mr.  Spencer  claims  the  relativity  of  our  knowledge  is  demon- 
strable from  the  nature  of  life  which  he  defines  as  the  "continuous 
adjustment  of  internal  relations  to  external  relations,"  which  he  says 
includes  intelligence  as  well  as  the  lowest  forms  of  life.     That  is  to 
say,  if  you  will  grant  that  intelligence  comes  under  a  class  of  relations 
it  easily  and  naturally  follows  that  intelligence  is  relative  in  its  nature. 
But  it  just  as  easily  follows  that  if  this  is  a  statement  of  intelligence 
that  it  too  is  relative,  i.  e.,  it  is  not  absolutely  true;  if  it  is  not  a  state- 
ment of  intelligence  it  does  not  matter  so  much. 

But  in  order  that  this  definition  of  life  be  good  for  anything  the 
existence  of  something  "external"  must  be  demonstrated. 

IV.  Mr.  Spencer  attempts  to  prove  the  existence  of  an  absolute 
external  by  showing: 

(a)  In  the  assertion  that  all  our  knowledge  is  relative  is  involved 
the  postulate  that  there  exists  a  non -relative.     Logically  this  non- 
relative  is  negative;    psychologically  it  is  indefinite  consciousness; 
when  we  think  of  the  relative  there  is  a  definite  affection  of  the 
intellect;  by  the  law  of  antinomies  at  the  same  time  there  is  produced 
an  indefinite  affection  of  the  intellect. 

(b)  And  since  we  can  think  antinomies  only  in  connection,  if  we 
erase  one  from  the  intellect  we  erase  the  other  also,  e.  g.,  if  we  erase 
the  non -relative,  the  relative  disappears  too. 

(c)  We  get  this  indefinite  consciousness,  this  cognition  of  the 
absolute,  by  "  combining  successive  concepts  deprived  of  their  limits 
and  conditions,"  and  since  this  always  perdures  in  our  consciousness 
we  have  our  unshaken  belief  in  external  existence. 

Dr.  Hickok  would  hold  that  we  can  prove  objective  existence  only 
as  we  can  prove  the  laws  of  thought  are  the  laws  of  things  and  that, 
by  proving  a  common  creator  of  things  and  thinkers,  and  resting  this 
proof  too  on  the  proof  of  the  trustworthiness  of  the  mind.  I  agree 
with  the  later  view,  at  least  to  the  extent  of  not  accepting  Mr.  Spen- 
cer's proof  of  objective  existence. 

A.  In  general,  because  his  indefinite  consciousness  upon  which  his 
whole  argument  rests  has  not  a  whit  more  validity  for  proving  objec- 
tive existence  than  definite  consciousness  (and  it  might  receive  less 
credence  as  a  witness  since  it  lacks  limits  and  conditions)  and  definite 
consciousness  is  avowedly  phenomenal. 

B.  And  because,  in  particular  (a)  a  postulate  is  no  proof,  (b)  the 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  323 

antinomy  of  something  is  nothing,  but  this  does  not  prove  the  objec- 
tive existence  of  nothing,  i.  e.,  by  antinomies  objective  existence 
cannot  be  proved;  (c)  if  the  mind  could  keep  all  its  cognitions  vividly 
within  it  in  all  their  limits  and  conditions,  it  would  never,  according 
to  Spencer's  view,  suspect  objective  existence,  i.  e.,  belief  in  objective 
existence  is  but  a  weakness;  or,  at  the  most,  the  result  of  a  deceitful 
habit  of  the  mind  of  separating  in  thought  what  cannot  be  separated 
in  reality,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  reality  is  but  a  fabric  of  the 
mind. 

OUR  EDUCATIONAL  BALANCE  SHEET 

Business  dominates  this  great  country  of  ours,  and  every  line  of 
activity  must  present  a  favorable  balance  sheet  if  it  is  to  receive  con- 
tinued support.  All  corporations  of  a  business  nature  have  been 
receiving  the  fiercest  scrutiny;  and  now  the  searchlight  is  beginning 
to  turn  upon  the  schools,  and  our  system  of  education,  while  not 
primarily  established  for  pecuniary  gain,  must  present  an  honest 
balance  sheet  and  it  must  eventually  justify  itself  even  on  the  basis 
of  finance.  For  if  the  financial  statement  of  cost  of  education  and 
gain  from  education  do  not  balance,  our  entire  educational  system 
must  certainly  be  overthrown — and  with  it  must  go  down  whatever 
superstructure  we  are  building  on  present  foundations. 

Let  us  first  take  up  the  cost  of  our  common  school  system:  The 
value  of  the  school  plant,  i.  e.,  land,  buildings  and  equipment,  in  the 
United  States  is  estimated  at  $1,250,000,000. 

Allowance  for  interest  and  depreciation $25,000,000 

Yearly  supplies . .  .  100,000,000 

Teachers'  salaries 600,000,000 

So  that  our  yearly  bill  of  expense  for  education  exceeds  $800,000,000. 
Now,  in  our  national  husbandry  let  us  see  what  this  sum  of  money 
means : 

The  wheat  crop  for  1 9 12  was  worth  only  about  $700,000,000.  Total 
farm  products  for  the  United  States  (1910)  about  8?  billions,  so  that 
the  yearly  cost  of  education  exceeded  the  wheat  crop  of  1912  by  about 
$100,000,000,  and  equals  about  10  per  cent  of  value  of  all  farm  prod- 
ucts of  the  United  States  for  1910. 

The  net  earnings  of  all  the  banking  institutions  of  the  United 
States  (by  that  I  mean  all  the  savings  banks,  trust  companies,  state 
banks  and  national  banks  of  the  entire  country)  were  $903,000,000; 
so  that  these  net  earnings  exceeded  our  annual  school  bill  by  only 
about  12  per  cent. 

The  receipts  of  the  United  States  government  for  1910  were  $723,- 
000,000,  so  our  yearly  school  bill  is  about  $100,000,000  in  excess  of 
those  receipts. 

To  widen  our  perspective  in  this  matter,  let  us  make  another  set  of 


324  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

comparisons:  It  takes  on  an  average  eight  years  to  put  one  set  of 
pupils  through  the  eight  elementary  grades,  so  that  one  set  plus  their 
seven  immediate  partially  trained  successors  will  cost  the  country 
about  7  billions  of  dollars. 

Some  comparisons  will  show  what  this  amount  signifies:  The  total 
resources  of  every  kind  of  all  the  26,000  banking  institutions  men- 
tioned above,  i.  e.,  all  the  savings  banks,  trust  companies,  state  and 
national  banks,  are  25  billions,  700  millions,  so  that  our  school  costs, 
for  eight  years,  equal  about  28  per  cent  of  this  tremendous  total. 

If  we  add  the  value  of  the  school  plant  to  the  cost  of  running  the 
schools  for  eight  years,  it  will  equal  the  total  value  of  the  farm  prod- 
ucts of  the  United  States  for  1910. 

It  equals  40  per  cent  of  the  value  of  all  the  manufactured  products 
of  the  United  States;  it  equals  20  per  cent  of  the  total  value  of  farms 
and  farm  property  of  the  United  States;  it  equals  7^  per  cent  of  the 
total  wealth  of  the  United  States;  it  is  twice  the  value  of  all  the 
exports  and  imports  of  the  United  States  for  1913. 

One  does  not  need  to  be  a  materialist  or  a  sensationalist  to  be 
startled  by  these  facts.  It  must  be  clear  to  everyone  that  no  nation 
can  endure  such  a  constant  drain  as  this  without  a  corresponding  gain. 

Now  let  us  consider  what  is  the  product  and  what  is  the  value  of 
the  product : 

School  records  show  that  we  have  a  total  registration  in  our  com- 
mon schools  of  approximately  twenty  millions  of  children,  and  per- 
haps a  million  and  a  half  of  these  graduate  from  the  elementary 
schools  yearly;  and,  possibly,  two  millions  take  up  some  form  of 
employment.  Now  I  tell  you  nothing  new  when  I  say  that  neither 
their  employers,  nor  observant  critics  consider  their  labor  of  much 
value,  nor  are  thoughtful  men  allured  by  their  prospects  for  the 
future. 

Where  then  is  the  gain  to  our  people  and  to  our  nation?  I  am  not 
one  of  those  who  can  see  no  gain  from  our  present  system.  The  mere 
fact  of  support  by  the  citizens  and  attendance  by  pupils  has  great 
significance  for  the  unity  of  our  people  and  our  government.  The 
vast  outlay  augurs  well  for  confidence  in  our  future.  And  I  do  not 
believe  that  the  sum  total  of  the  yearly  wages  of  our  graduates  is  an 
adequate  financial  statement  of  the  nation's  investment  in  those 
pupils.  But  all  thinking  men  agree  that  our  present  system  and 
methods  need  very  great  change  in  order  that  they  may  become 
adequate  for  our  country's  needs  and  justify  the  enormous  financial 
burden. 

Perhaps  my  long  years  of  teaching  entitle  me  to  hold  an  opinion  as 
to  where  some  of  our  defects  lie,  and  to  give  a  suggestion  as  to  how 
improvement  may  be  brought  about.  The  thought  and  purpose  that 
dominate  any  kind  of  human  activity  largely  determine  the  value  of 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  325 

that  activity — and  so  I  think  it  is  in  education.  The  conception  that 
educators  have  of  the  nature  of  (a)  young  human  beings;  (b)  why 
training  should  be  given  them,  and  (c)  what  kind  of  training  that 
should  be,  are  fundamental  and  must  be  considered  when  we  con- 
sider changes  in  systems  and  methods. 

The  watchwords  that  are  shouted  by  leaders  in  any  given  period  of 
educational  history  indicate  fairly  well  the  views  of  those  leaders  in 
regard  to  the  fundamental  questions;  the  watchwords  of  the  last 
twenty-five  years  have  been  chronologically  about  as  follows :  "  Man- 
ual Training";  "Standardization";  "Motivation";  "Industrial 
Education";  "Vocational  Training";  "Vocational  Guidance"; 
"Efficiency";  "Part-Time  School"  and  "Continuation  Schooling." 

All  these  watchwords  represent  a  similar  line  of  thought,  and  a 
similar  criticism  of  classic  and  cultural  training;  namely,  that  it  was 
not  training  our  youth  to  help  pay  for  their  tuition,  and  to  help  bear 
the  country's  industrial,  commercial  and  civic  burdens.  But  while 
the  watchword  and  the  theory  underlying  it  have  been  received  with 
ardor,  there  has  grown  also  a  certain  pessimism  in  regard  to  the 
qualitative  value  of  our  young  people  and  some  have  burst  out 
fiercely  in  a  demand  for  "Eugenics." 

Below  all  this  discussion  I  personally  believe  there  lies  a  false 
philosophy  of  human  nature  and  a  faulty  logic  in  regard  to  education. 
To  state  this  more  definitely,  I  believe  that  the  agnosticism  of  thirty 
years  ago  still  pervades  our  educational  theory,  and  damages  our 
educational  practise.  Education  is  a  study  of  possibilities,  of  capac- 
ities, and  our  educational  philosophy  underrates  the  human  being 
by  putting  him  on  the  lower  plane  of  animal  biology;  the  result 
might  be  anticipated;  our  faith  foreshadows  our  performance.  I 
believe  that  this  analysis  of  educational  thought  is  of  vital  importance 
and  I  will  follow  it  somewhat  more  definitely.  To  make  clear  my 
point  of  view  I  will  offer  you  another  watchword,  namely,  "Person- 
ality in  Education." 

What  is  the  human  being,  and  what  is  its  personality?  What  is 
its  value  set  over  against  mine  and  forest,  railroad,  store  and  mill? 
And  what  should  be  its  relation  to  mine  and  forest,  railroad,  store  and 
mill?  What  its  relation  to  the  school  appropriation? 

What  is  personality?  "The  boy  and  the  girl,"  says  the  average 
educator  of  today,  "is  just  a  bundle  of  instincts  and  impulses." 
This  statement,  if  you  follow  the  reports  of  educational  meetings,  you 
will  find  repeated  over  and  over  again.  I  believe  it  is  fairly  indica- 
tive of  much  of  the  educational  thought  today  and  is  founded  on  a 
false  comparison  of  the  human  being  with  the  lower  animals.  But 
what  is  the  human  personality?  Can  we  tell  what  our  own  consists 
of,  you  or  I?  We  know  the  organism,  through  which  the  personality 
works,  and  we  know  something  of  its  power  to  affect  the  body,  but 


326  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

the  personality  itself  stands  veiled  in  mystery  behind  the  organs, 
unseen,  unheard.  The  Catholic  Church  teaches  that  it  is  made  in 
the  image  of  God,  being  endowed  with  capacity  for  knowing  good 
and  evil, and  with  free  will  to  choose  between  them;  i.  e.,  it  is  endowed 
to  a  degree  with  creative  power.  And  even  if  one  is  not  a  Catholic, 
I  do  not  see  how  he  can  escape  the  conclusion  that  the  human  soul 
proceeds  from  the  creative  center  of  the  Universe.  If  we  watch  our 
own  personal  activities  we  find  that  we  are  endowed  with  powers  of 
sensation,  consciousness,  knowing,  feeling,  and  uniting — and  we  find 
too,  that  in  this  order  the  functions  of  our  soul  invariably  manifest 
themselves.  We  know,  too,  from  observing  ourselves  and  especially 
by  observing  others,  that  these  functions  can  be  developed  to  almost 
any  extent.  To  develop  these  faculties  so  that  the  individual  will  be 
the  greatest  possible  asset  to  society  and  the  state  is  clearly  the  func- 
tion of  education,  and  justifies  the  expenditure  of  resources  of  society 
and  the  state  to  the  degree  that  those  human  faculties  add  to  the 
power,  stability  and  resources  of  society  and  the  state — otherwise 
national  suicide  would  be  the  result. 

How  then  can  those  faculties  be  developed  to  produce  such  a  max- 
imum of  power?  If  we  can  ascertain  this,  we  can  tell  whether  Indus- 
trial Education,  Classical  Education  or  any  other  proposed  type  is  in 
itself  useful  or  harmful.  That  these  faculties  of  the  American  boy 
and  girl  are  not  adequately  developed  is  admitted  and  is  a  universal 
complaint.  Perhaps  we  can  best  make  a  beginning  with  the  admitted 
defects  or  shortcomings  of  our  present  system:  Lack  of  individual 
power,  inability  to  do  useful  things,  and  utter  lack  of  respect  for 
authority,  for  father  and  mother,  as  well  as  for  all  other  persons  in 
authority. 

Hence  results  general  dissatisfaction  of  employers.  Add  to  that 
the  prevalence  of  disorderly  gangs  of  youths  who  infest  the  streets 
day  and  night.  We  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  in  Massachusetts 
alone  it  is  estimated  that  there  are  forty  thousand  young  people 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  who  have  received  the  bene- 
fit of  our  school  system  who  are  no  longer  at  school  but  who  are  not 
at  work.  Here  is  surely  tremendous  waste  and  loss.  Is  it  necessary 
that  it  should  be  so?  I  firmly  believe  that  it  is  not  necessary,  and  if 
we  insist  on  the  normal  development  of  the  human  faculties  we  can 
largely  correct  the  defects  in  our  industrial  and  civic  life  which  exist 
today.  But  first  of  all  we  need  the  conviction  that  man  is  not  merely 
a  biological  specimen — that  there  is  a  spark  of  divinity  in  every 
normal  child,  which  may  be  fanned  into  extraordinary  creative  power. 
That  I  insist  on  as  fundamental.  No  person  with  a  mind  and 
character  that  cannot  grasp  and  apply  and  realize  the  meaning  of 
that  statement  should  poison  the  growing  child  by  his  presence. 
Nothing  but  stunted  and  perverted  faculty  can  result — unless  the 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  327 

child's  native  power  is  so  great  that  he  can  himself  correct  his  imper- 
fect training. 

But  given  the  right  viewpoint  and  the  right  vision,  what  definite 
specific  things  shall  the  teacher  strive  to  produce? 

First,  sensation — all  the  senses  trained  in  an  orderly  manner — 
through  cultivating  direct  power  of  attention;  second,  through  the 
growing  consciousness  of  the  child  developing  into,  third,  knowledge, 
i.  e.,  of  itself  and  of  the  object  of  its  attention,  attracted,  fourth,  by 
the  effect  then  produced  on  its  feelings,  and,  finally,  by  the  action  of 
its,  fifth,  will  power  on  this  object  of  its  senses  and  its  understanding. 

Now  all  this  cannot  be  properly  and  harmoniously  accomplished 
unless  the  teacher  is  endowed  with  insight  and  sympathy  and  is 
given  authority  which  the  child  is  bound  to  respect.  Without  that 
you  take  away  the  king  pin  of  your  state  and  social  life. 

BOOTS,  SHOES,  HIDES  AND  LEATHER  AS  CONDITIONAL  CONTRABAND 

"Can  we  ship  boots,  shoes,  hides,  or  leather,  under  present  circum- 
stances, without  danger  of  confiscation?" 

Just  at  present  it  is  difficult  to  secure  the  means  of  transport  for 
any  kind  of  freight;  but  assuming  that  the  situation  will  clear  and 
that  a  supply  of  transport  boats  will  be  available,  it  is  desirable  to 
select  the  flag  under  which  you  make  shipment  with  care  and  fore- 
thought: for  the  question  whether  the  boat  is  neutral  or  not,  and,  if 
hostile,  the  circumstances  of  the  nation  to  which  the  flag  belongs  and 
the  general  condition  of  the  war  will  have  a  bearing  on  the  safety  of 
the  cargo. 

But  granting  that  suitable  freight  boats  can  be  secured,  what  is  the 
status  of  leather  and  footwear,  in  time  of  war,  from  the  standpoint  of 
international  law?  Let  it  be  remembered  from  the  outset  that  in 
such  a  war  as  is  being  waged  today,  any  ship  and  any  cargo  is  liab  le 
to  be  seized  and  that  an  international  prize  court  does  not  exist — 
except  in  the  records  of  The  Hague  Peace  Conference.  Recollect, 
too,  that  ships  and  goods  taken  as  prizes  are  subject  in  the  first 
instance  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  prize  courts  of  the  captor;  and  if 
the  captor  acts  according  to  certain  recognized  rules  and  principles 
the  owner  of  the  captured  goods  can  expect  no  aid  from  this  home 
government. 

What  then  are  the  recognized  rules  and  principles  applicable  to 
this  inquiry?  There  are  two  general  principles  that  are  of  a  special 
importance: 

First:  That  subjects  of  neutral  powers,  for  example,  the  United 
States,  are  presumed  to  retain  and  have  the  right  to  exercise  all  their 
commercial  rights,  including  the  right  to  sell  and  ship  goods  contra- 
band, or  conditionally  contraband,  as  well  as  any  other  kind — and 
that  the  right  to  sell  and  ship  goods  must  be  hampered  as  little  as 
possible  by  the  existence  of  war  between  two  or  more  states;  but 


328  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

Second :  That  states  at  war  have  a  right  to  continue  their  warfare 
with  as  little  interference  as  possible  by  the  commercial  activity  of 
neutral  subjects.  In  other  words,  a  merchant  of  the  United  States 
has  the  right  unhindered  by  the  United  States  government  to  sell 
goods  and  to  have  them  shipped  on  the  high  seas  to  belligerent 
nations,  provided  only  that  such  goods  are  not  contraband;  and  so 
too,  a  nation  at  war  will  exercise  the  right  of  search  and  will  confiscate 
goods,  if  it  deems  them  contraband. 

What  then  is  contraband?  Are  boots,  shoes  and  leather  contra- 
band? 

The  question  what  is  or  what  is  not  contraband,  outside  of  a  few 
classes  of  goods  such  as  weapons  of  war,  ammunition  and  equipment, 
is  in  practical  cases  somewhat  difficult  to  decide.  In  deciding  it,  it 
is  necessary  to  take  into  account. 

(a)  What  the  greater  writers  on  international  law  say  on  the  subject; 

(b)  The  regulations  by  treaty  between  the  powers; 

(c)  Discussions  in  prize  courts  in  regard  to  contraband;  and 

(d)  Instructions  issued  to  the  naval  forces  by  the  particular  nations 
concerned. 

It  may  be  helpful  to  say  that  the  disposition  of  Great  Britain  with 
its  great  navy  has  been  to  make  a  long  list  of  contraband  articles 
and  to  rigorously  enforce  its  regulations  regarding  them,  while  the 
Continental  powers  have  favored  a  shorter  list  and  leniency  in 
enforcement. 

The  United  States  has  occupied  middle  ground  on  this  question. 

For  the  purposes  of  our  present  inquiry  it  is  important  to  know 
that,  according  to  the  Convention  of  London,  signed  in  1909  by 
representatives  of  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  France,  Great  Britain, 
Japan,  Russia,  as  well  as  by  the  representatives  of  the  United  States, 
Italy,  the  Netherlands,  and  Spain,  that  raw  hides  are  never  contra- 
band, while  boots  and  shoes  suitable  for  military  use,  as  well  as 
harness  and  saddlery,  being  susceptible  for  use  in  war  as  well  as  in 
peace,  are  without  notice,  regarded  as  contraband  of  war,  under  the 
name  of  "conditional  contraband." 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  Convention  of  London  has  not  been 
officially  ratified  by  appropriate  legislation  on  the  part  of  the  different 
states  whose  representatives  signed  the  Convention,  and  yet  in  the 
present  crisis  that  declaration  must  be  regarded  as  something  of  a 
guide  especially  for  citizens  of  the  United  States,  for  the  policy 
expressed  by  that  declaration  has  long  been  the  policy  maintained 
by  the  United  States.  And  surely  a  merchant  of  the  United  States, 
if  he  can  show  injustice  toward  him  on  the  part  of  foreign  belligerents, 
can  confidently  look  for  protection  to  "Uncle  Sam." 

Now  what  are  the  conditions  which  will  cause  a  cargo  of  boots, 
shoes,  or  leather  to  be  regarded  as  contraband? 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  329 

The  view  which  is  favored  by  international  law  writers  and  which 
the  United  States  government  would  presumably  insist  on  is  this: 
It  must  be  clearly  shown  (a)  that  the  captured  goods  would  be  direct 
military  use  to  the  enemy;  and  (b)  destined  for  him. 

For  example,  a  cargo  of  shoes,  men's  sizes,  destined  to  Schmidt 
Brothers,  Munich,  are  liable  to  confiscation  by  an  English  or  French 
warship,  although  carried  in  an  American  ship  under  the  United 
States  flag  and  bound  for  the  neutral  port  of  Genoa,  Italy;  while  on 
the  other  hand,  a  cargo  of  "Bluchers"  destined  for  an  Italian  house 
in  Genoa,  which  regularly  sells  such  supplies  to  the  Italian  govern- 
ment, might,  indeed,  be  arbitrarily  seized  by  a  German  or  Austrian 
cruiser,  but  the  United  States  government  would,  doubtless,  exercise 
its  power  to  protect  the  consignor  of  the  boots — though  a  wise 
discretion,  one  would  think,  would  caution  the  shipper  of  conditional 
contraband  from  selecting  an  Italian  port  at  the  present  juncture. 

With  regard  to  goods  in  general,  including  of  course  boots  and 
shoes,  and  leaving  out  for  the  moment  consideration  of  contraband 
aspects,  it  may  be  well  to  state  that  according  to  the  Declaration  of 
Paris,  which  has  been  generally  approved  by  the  nations,  goods  of 
an  enemy  in  a  neutral  ship  and  neutral  goods  in  a  belligerent  ship  go 
free.  So,  our  merchants  and  manufacturers,  if  they  are  willing  to 
pay  war  rates  of  insurance  on  their  cargoes,  may  freely  continue  to 
exercise  their  rights  in  regard  to  ocean  traffic. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  add  in  regard  to  contraband  that  if  half  the 
cargo,  as  ascertained  by  volume,  weight,  value,  or  tariff  rates,  is 
contraband,  the  entire  cargo  is  liable  to  confiscation;  and  in  case  the 
owner  of  the  contraband  goods  is  also  the  owner  of  the  ship,  the  ship 
is  also  liable  to  confiscation. 

JAMES  MAHONEY. 

August  10,  1914. 

BUSINESS  VERSUS  SOCIALISM  AND  ANARCHISM 

James  Mahoney  wrote  the  following  paper  and  read  it  on  February 
23,  1913,  before  the  Catholic  Literary  Union  of  Charlestown  where 
he  was  a  valued  leader.  It  is  marked,  above  others  of  his  writings, 
by  being  almost  the  only  work  outside  of  the  teacher's  field,  that  he 
intended  to  publish.  It  has  been  re-read  by  Mr.  Arthur  A.  Carey, 
an  old  friend  with  whom  Mahoney  had  much  in  common,  particularly 
in  the  study  of  what  is  now  usually  classed  as  "Industrial  Unrest": 

The  most  stupid  person  cannot  fail  to  realize  that  there  is  some- 
thing wrong  with  our  present  industrial  system.  In  a  thousand  ways 
this  fact  is  borne  in  upon  us.  Unions,  lockouts,  strikes  and  even  riots 
are  the  burden  of  our  daily  press.  Yesterday  morning's  paper  de- 
clares that,  Friday,  the  fourteen  men  arrested  during  the  riots  in  con- 
nection with  the  picketing  by  strikers  in  East  Boston  were  ar- 


330  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

raigned  in  court,  their  heads  bandaged  and  their  faces  cut  and 
bruised.  The  International  Executive  Board  of  the  Ladies'  Garment 
Workers'  Union  held  a  special  meeting  in  New  York  last  night  "to 
consider,"  Union  men  said,  "ways  and  means  of  conducting  a  strike  of 
the  10,000  workers  on  ladies'  garments  in  this  city."  The  Union's 
committee  is  paying  out  strike  benefits  to  the  members  who  are  in  the 
most  need  of  assistance,  but  President  Zorn  of  the  Union  again  de- 
clared that  the  police  were  mainly  responsible  for  the  rioting 
Wednesday  and  Thursday  at  East  Boston.  The  papers  this  morn- 
ing report  the  planting  of  a  bomb,  and  an  attempt  to  blow  up  a 
strike-breaker's  house  in  Everett. 

Wre  still  remember  with  vividness  the  events  of  the  Elevated  strike 
of  last  summer,  with  its  suffering,  its  disorder  and  its  public  incon- 
venience. We  have  by  no  means  forgotten  the  terrible  struggles, 
the  rioting  and  fierce  passions  of  the  Lawrence  strike  of  a  few  months 
ago. 

And  these  are  only  a  few  of  the  facts  that  indicate  that  something 
like  a  state  of  warfare  exists  in  the  industrial  world. 

Even  if  we  were  as  foolish  as  the  ostrich,  which  hides  its  head  in 
the  sand,  we  couldn't  escape  the  necessity  of  endeavoring  to  find  out 
the  causes  of  these  disorders,  and  who  the  contending  parties  are. 

In  the  instances  cited,  we  have  organized  capital  on  the  one  side, 
we  have  organized  labor  on  the  other,  a  dispute  and  then  a  quarrel, 
and  a  condition  of  affairs  very  much  like  that  of  armies  on  the  field  of 
battle.  If  we  desire  industrial  peace,  we  must  study  the  parties 
concerned  and  endeavor  to  learn  the  causes  of  their  warfare;  and  a 
very  little  reading  will  show  us  that  similar  conditions  prevail  through- 
out the  world,  and  that  a  wide  conflict  is  on  between  Labor  and 
Capital. 

The  first  fact  that  arrests  our  attention  is  that  there  are  three 
revolutionary  societies  who  are  trying — however  erroneously  as  to 
method — to  better  the  ills  of  society.  These  are,  first,  International 
Socialists;  secondly,  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World;  and, 
thirdly,  Anarchists. 

Inasmuch  as  the  International  Socialists  and  the  Industrial  W'orkers 
of  the  World  have  common  aims,  though  differing  in  method,  we  can 
group  those  two  parties  under  the  head  of  Socialism.  It  thus  be- 
comes our  duty  to  explain : 

A.  (1)  What  Socialism  is. 

(2)  What  remedy  it  offers  for  present  ills;  and 

(3)  What  would  be  the  probable  effect  of  the  application  of 

the  Socialistic  remedies. 

B.  (1)  What  Anarchism  is. 

(2)  What  its  principles  are;  and 

(3)  What  would  be  the  effect  of  their  practical  application  to 

the  industrial  world. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  331 

C.  It  will  then  be  our  problem  to  analyze  the  nature  of  business 
and  capital,  and  their  relation  to  civilization. 

D.  Through   what   grades   of   development   mankind  passed   to 
attain  to  civilization,  and  what  benefits  it  has  realized  by  this 
process. 

E.  What  the  real  defects  of  our  present  system  are;  and 

F.  Whether  those  defects  can  be  practically  remedied  without 
overturning   our  present   industrial   civilization, — and   if   so, 
what  the  definite  means  are  in  the  line  of  upward  progress. 

A.  International  Socialism  is  not  a  matter  of  very  recent  growth. 
It  was  my  privilege  in  1895  to  be  a  student  in  the  University  of  Berlin, 
Germany,  and  while  there — as  a  young  man  with  wondering,  wide- 
open  eyes — I  marvelled  at  the  achievements  of  the  great  German 
nation,  its  wonderful  educational  institutions,  and  especially  its  un- 
conquerable army.  The  huge,  blue-coated  Prussian  soldiers  filled  the 
streets  everywhere;  and  I  wondered  frequently  how  it  happened  that 
the  German  dared  to  think  without  imperial  permission.  I  well 
remember  that,  on  a  certain  occasion,  the  able  and  aggressive  Emperor 
had  called  the  officers  of  his  army  into  the  White  Hall  of  his  great 
palace,  and — speaking  of  the  Socialists,  who  in  Germany  bear  the 
name  of  Social  Democrats — had  addressed  them  in  the  following 
terms:  "As  long  as  I  wear  the  Emperor's  coat,  I  will  never  yield 
to  these  men;  and  I  call  upon  you  to  follow  me  into  a  conflict  which 
will  drive  from  our  kingdom  this  miserable  rabble,  the  pest  of  the 
human  race." 

But  the  Social  Democrats  were  not  driven  from  Germany.  They 
have  steadily  increased  in  numbers  and  it  was  only  a  few  months 
later  that,  at  a  session  of  the  German  Parliament,  I  was  impressed, 
during  a  warm  discussion  of  imperial  measures,  with  the  appearance  of 
August  Bebel,  who  arose,  and  with  words  keen  as  a  razor's  edge, 
joined  in  the  debate  and  hurled  defiance  at  the  ministers  of  the 
Emperor. 

The  Socialist  party  numbers  many  leaders  and  writers,  but  among 
them  all,  August  Bebel  is  today  the  international  chief,  and  August 
Bebel  is  the  disciple  of  Karl  Marx,  whose  writings  form  the  scriptures 
of  Socialism. 

Let  us  try  to  express  briefly  the  teaching  of  these  arch-leaders  of 
the  international  movement.  The  fundamental  work  for  all  Socialists 
is  Karl  Marx's  "Capital,"  and  its  restatement  in  practical  form  is 
entitled,  "  The  Wife  and  Socialism,"  by  August  Bebel.  In  "  Capital " 
Karl  Marx  analyzes  what  he  calls  capitalistic  production.  He 
endeavors  to  show  that  commodities  have  commercial  value  to  the 
extent  that  labor  has  been  employed  in  their  production,  that  the 
modern  capitalistic  system  arose  about  the  beginning  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  because  of  the  invention  of  the  steam  engine  and  high- 


332  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

powered  instruments  of  production,  that  a  few  men  having  gained 
control  of  these  instruments  of  production,  practically  reduced 
laborers  to  the  condition  of  serfs,  forcing  them  down  to  the  barest 
necessities  of  life,  while  accumulating  vast  fortunes  for  themselves. 
Marx's  philosophy  was  based  on  materialism  and  atheism,  and  the 
movement  which  he  started  bears  a  purely  materialistic  stamp.  He 
was  the  founder  of  the  so-called  "International,"  which  would  unite 
all  the  workers  of  the  world  to  overthrow  their  Capitalistic  masters. 
The  great  leader,  Bebel,  in  his  work,  "The  Wife  and  Socialism," 
has  restated  the  doctrines  of  his  master  and  emphasized  them  anew. 
We  cannot  make  too  clear  the  statement  of  these  doctrines. 

(1)  In  the  twenty-third  chapter  of  the  above-named  work,  August 
Bebel  says,     "With  the  doing  away  of  private  property  and  of  class 
opposition,  the  state  gradually  disappears.     .     .     .     With  the  state 
will  disappear  its  representatives,  ministers,  parliaments,  standing 
army,  police,  courts,  attorneys,  prison  officials,  tax  administration, — 
in  one  word,  the  whole  political  business." 

(2)  "As  with  the  state,  so  it  will  happen  to  religion.     .     .     . 
Without  attack  by  force,  and  without  repression  of  opinion     .     .     . 
religious  organizations,  and  with  them,  the  churches,  will  gradually 
disappear.     Religion  is  the  transcendent  representation  of  a  former 
condition  of  society.     In  proportion  as  human  development  progresses 
society  changes,  religion  changes.     It  is,  as  Marx  says,  a  striving  for 
an  imaginary  good  fortune  of  the  people  and  develops  from  a  condi- 
tion of  society  which  is  in  need  of  illusion,  but  disappears  as  soon  as 
a  realization  of  actual  good  fortune  and  the  possibility  of  its  attain- 
ment comes  into  the  mind  of  the  people. 

"Morality  exists  also  without  religion.  Only  cranks  or  hypocrites 
maintain  the  opposite." 

(3)  Speaking  of  woman,  Bebel  says:     "In  her  choice  of  affection 
she  is  like  man,  free  and  unhindered.     She  frees  or  permits  herself 
to  be  free,  and  forms  a  relationship  without  any  other  regard  than 
that  of  her  own  inclination.     This  relationship  is  a  private  contract 
without  the  intervention  of  a  functionary,  such  as  marriage  was  till 
the  Middle  Ages."     This  expresses  Bebel's  fundamental  thought  in 
regard  to  the  marriage  relationship. 

It  is  very  true,  indeed,  that  men  like  James  F.  Carey  declare  that, 
with  Socialists,  religion  is  a  matter  for  private  opinion,  that  there  is 
no  doctrine  taught  by  Socialists  in  regard  to  family  relationship,  but 
Carey  and  others  like  him  cannot  speak  for  Socialism.  Bebel,  Marx 
and  Kautsky  are  the  men  who  have  created  the  movement,  and  their 
thought  and  character  is  impressed  upon  it.  Let  me  repeat,  then: 
International  Socialism  stands,  first  of  all,  for  the  ownership  by  what 
they  call  the  co-operative  commonwealth  of  all  the  means  of  capital- 
istic production  and  distribution  of  products;  secondly,  for  atheism 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  333 

and  a  material  conception  of  society  and  the  universe;  and  thirdly, 
for  the  abolition  of  the  marriage  law. 

We  may  well  inquire  whether  Socialists  are  sufficiently  numerous 
and  well-organized  to  give  any  warrant  that  they  could  have  sufficient 
power  to  put  into  practice  the  doctrines  which  they  preach.  In  the 
United  States  in  the  recent  Presidential  election,  the  Socialists  cast 
nearly  1,000,000  votes,  and  this  represents  only  a  fraction  of  their 
real  strength.  In  1888,  in  the  United  States,  they  cast  but  2,000 
votes.  It  is  true  that  there  is  but  one  Socialistic  member  in  the 
United  States  Congress,  but  throughout  the  Union  they  hold  many 
representative  positions  in  city  and  state. 

In  Great  Britain  in  1910  the  Socialist  vote  was  370,000  and  they 
elected  42  members  to  the  English  Parliament.  In  Belgium,  the 
vote  was  483,000,  with  35  Socialist  members  in  the  governmental 
chamber. 

In  Finland  the  vote  in  1911  was  321,000  and  they  had  87  deputies 
in  the  Finnish  Parliament. 

In  Austria  in  1907  the  Socialists  cast  more  than  1,000,000  votes 
and  elected  88  members  to  the  imperial  parliament. 

In  France  in  1910  they  cast  1,106,000  votes  and  elected  76  deputies. 

In  Italy  in  1909,  the  Socialist  vote  was  338,000  and  they  elected  42 
delegates  to  the  Parliament. 

In  Germany  nearly  4,000,000  votes  were  cast  at  the  last  election, 
and  they  have  110  members  in  the  German  Parliament. 

So  that  in  the  industrial  countries  at  the  present  time  Socialists 
number  about  10,000,000  voters  and  elect  more  than  500  members 
to  the  various  parliaments. 

The  newspapers,  too,  are  an  index  of  Socialistic  strength.  In 
England  there  are  12  Socialistic  papers;  in  Belgium,  56;  in  France, 
70;  in  Italy,  92;  and  in  Germany,  159.  I  have  not  been  able  to 
ascertain  exactly  the  number  of  Socialistic  papers  in  the  United  States, 
but  their  number  is  considerable  and  their  circulation  and  influence, 
formidable. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  Socialists  are  very  practical  people,  they 
have  gone  into  politics  in  a  most  efficient  way,  with  the  thought  of 
gaining  control  of  the  machinery  of  government  in  order  that  they 
may  overturn  it  and  put  into  operation  what  they  call  the  "Co-opera- 
tive Commonwealth." 

Let  me  make  a  brief  statement  regarding  the  Industrial  Workers 
of  the  World.  This  organization  has  been  in  existence  but  a  few 
years,  but  it  has  impressed  itself  on  the  industrial  world  by  the 
determination  of  its  leaders  and  the  ferocity  of  its  attacks.  Its 
general  principles  are  but  a  re-echoing  of  the  doctrines  of  Marx  and 
Bebel.  A  significant  sentence  in  their  "preamble,"  which  heads 
every  leaflet  and  pamphlet  which  they  issue,  indicates  their  position. 


334  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

The  sentence  is  this:  "The  .working  class  and  the  employing  class 
have  nothing  in  common.  Between  these  two  classes,  a  struggle 
must  go  on  until  the  workers  of  the  world  organize  as  a  class,  take 
possession  of  the  earth,  the  machinery  of  production,  and  abolish 
the  wage  system." 

That  their  other  tenets  are  the  same  as  those  of  Socialists  may  be 
judged  from  their  general  writings,  and  especially  from  their  songs. 
They  take  a  special  pleasure  in  pouring  ridicule  upon  religion. 

While  the  Industrial  Workers  have  plans  that  are  very  similar 
to  those  of  Socialists,  it  is  but  fair  to  the  Socialists  to  say  that 
the  methods  of  the  Industrial  Workers  are  very  different  from  the 
methods  of  the  Socialists.  The  Industrial  Workers  say  that  their 
methods  are  not  intended  to  produce  violence,  but  they  admit 
that,  under  present  conditions,  they  will  of  necessity  lead  to  vio- 
lence, as  we  know  was  the  case  in  Lawrence,  and  as  came  very  near 
being  the  case  on  occasions  in  our  Elevated  strike. 

While  speaking  of  Socialists,  I  desire  to  make  one  point  very  clear, 
namely,  that  those  who  from  time  to  time  advocate  government 
ownership  of  this  industry  or  that,  as,  for  example,  the  telegraph  or 
the  railroads,  need  not  be  Socialists  at  all.  There  is  much  popular 
confusion  of  thought  with  regard  to  this  point,  and  the  Socialists  win 
many  converts  to  their  cause  by  pointing  out  the  great  advantage  of 
government  ownership  of  certain  industries.  A  man  may  be  a  strong 
opponent  of  Socialism,  and  at  the  same  time  consistently  advocate 
government  ownership  in  many  lines  of  industry,  for  even  if  the 
government  were  able  to  handle  efficiently  a  majority  of  our  great 
business  undertakings,  we  would  not  necessarily  be  on  the  road 
toward  Socialism;  for,  as  I  said  above,  the  Socialist  program  does 
not  begin  operation  until  private  capitalism  in  all  the  means  of  pro- 
duction and  distribution  is  absolutely  overthrown. 

B.  Another  revolutionary  movement  to  remedy  our  present  ills 
by  overturning  society  is  Anarchism.  Anarchism  is  a  doctrine  which 
has  its  roots  in  the  French  Revolution;  it  grew  and  developed  among 
the  wretched  victims  of  Russian  despotism,  where  it  took  the  name 
of  Nihilism;  its  chief  apostles  have  been  Proudhom,  Bakounine, 
Reclus  and  Kropotkin  in  Europe;  and  Benjamin  R.  Tucker  in 
America. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  numbers  and  influence  of  Anarchists. 
People  at  large  realize  their  existence  only  when,  during  some  crisis, 
they  are  startled  by  some  terrible  outrage  or  the  assassination  of 
some  great  ruler,  committed  by  Anarchists;  such,  for  example,  as 
the  bomb  outrages  in  Haymarket  Square  in  Chicago  in  1886,  the 
murder  of  President  McKinley  in  1901,  or  the  murder  of  high  officials 
in  Spain,  Italy  or  Russia. 

There  are  two  schools  of  Anarchists, — the  school  of  violence  and 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  335 

the  so-called  philosophical  school.  They  both  seek  the  absolute 
destruction  of  government.  The  school  of  violence  would  accomplish 
it  by  means  of  dynamite  or  any  other  powerful  agency  at  their  com- 
mand. The  philosophical  school  of  Anarchists  would  educate  people 
so  as  to  do  away  with  all  need  for  government.  The  school  of  vio- 
lence seems  to  have  no  doctrine  of  reconstruction.  Its  whole  force 
is  bent  upon  destruction.  Philosophical  Anarchists  claim  that  they 
would  reorganize  society  on  the  basis  of  free  co-operation  among 
groups,  smaller  or  larger,  as  the  case  may  be.  Both  schools  agree 
in  maintaining  that  all  poverty  must  cease,  that  God  as  the  source  of 
authority  cannot  exist,  that  morality  and  religion  are  but  the  fictions 
of  those  who  would  maintain  authority  and  that  the  individual  must 
be  a  law  unto  himself. 

I  have  to  point  out  here  that  Socialism  and  Anarchism  are  natural 
opposites.  International  Socialism,  which  is  the  only  form  of  conse- 
quence, maintains  that  all  powers,  all  privileges,  all  authority,  is 
centered  in  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth,  with  the  right  and  duty 
to  administer  everything  for  the  benefit  of  all.  Anarchism  would 
remove  all  central  management,  all  authority,  would  make  the 
individual  free  from  all  external  restraints. 

C.  He  would  be  a  poor  physician  or  surgeon  who  would  attempt  to 
give  remedies  or  to  cut  portions  from  the  body  of  a  patient  without 
understanding  human  anatomy,  physiology,  the  previous  history  of 
the  patient  in  question,  something  of  the  family  history,  as  well  as 
the  general  effect  of  drugs  or  the  result  of  particular  operations,  and 
in  discussing  remedies  for  the  diseased  condition  of  society  and 
civilization,  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  similar  study  so  that  there  may 
be  a  prospect  that  our  remedies  and  our  operations  may  do  good  and 
not  perhaps  injure  or  kill  the  patient.     It  is  necessary  for  our  purpose 
in  hand  to  analyze  business  in  its  relation  to  civilization,  to  clearly 
ascertain  what  business  and  civilization  imply,  by  what  processes 
they  have  been  developed  from  past  conditions,  what  in  their  nature 
causes  industrial  difficulties,  and  then 

D.  Give  the  probable  effect  of  the  remedies,  proposed 

(1)  by  Socialism, 

(2)  by  Anarchism,  and 

E.  then  indicate  what  should  be  the  remedies  in  the  light  of  our 
knowledge  of  business,  civilization  and  progress. 

What  does  business  imply?  In  its  external  forms  it  implies  farms, 
plantations,  mines,  quarries,  machinery,  factories,  stores,  warehouses, 
railroads,  steamships,  banks,  stock  exchanges,  mail  service,  telegraph, 
telephone,  wireless, — the  whole  world  meshed  together  in  an  industrial 
network.  But  is  that  all?  No,  there  must  be  strong  laborers, 
skilled  artisans,  powerful,  resourceful  captains  of  industry.  And  is 


336  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

that  all?  Most  assuredly  not.  The  workmen  and  their  leaders  are 
but  the  executive  manifestation  of  the  genius  of  humanity  applied  to 
the  production  and  distribution  of  industrial  products.  Society, 
law,  government,  must  be  deeply  studied  in  order  to  ascertain  how 
the  business  and  business  captains  of  today  have  emerged  from  the 
different  conditions  of  past  ages. 

Now  what  are  the  requisites  of  actual  business? 

(1)  Stable  government.     You  couldn't  do  much  in  the  way  of 
business  in  Mexico  at  the  present  time.     Whatever  interferes  with 
the  stability  of  government  and  the  regular  operation  of  business  law, 
interferes  to  that  extent  with  business  prosperity. 

(2)  Personal  initiative.     Without  personal  initiative,  the  guiding 
brain,  and  the  strong  individual  interest  that  starts  industrial  opera- 
tions, follows  them  assiduously,  with  anxious  personal  care,  to  the 
final  outcome,  no  business  worthy  of  the  name  could  even  begin  to 
be,  to  say  nothing  of  being  continued  to  success. 

(3)  Surrounding  conditions  of  civilization,  lying  deep  in  the  nature 
and  heart  of  man  which  foster  thrift,  initiative,  regard  for  law  and 
order,  repression  of  self-indulgence,  capacity  for  working  with  one's 
fellows,  for  whetting  the  human  intellect  to  keenness  in  present  activ- 
ity, and  some  degree  of  foresight  for  the  future, — all  are  absolutely 
necessary  for  industrial  life,  and  I  believe  any  thinking  man  will 
agree  with  the  great  man  whose  birthday  we  celebrated  yesterday, 
George  Washington,  that  the  fountain  of  all  these  virtues  that  lead 
to  patriotism  and  industry,  to  morality  and  sound  public  life,  is 
religion  and  a  belief  in  an  All  Wise  Father  of  the  universe. 

Furthermore,  a  study  of  business  implies  a  study  of  human  wants, 
for  all  business  implies  activities  tending  to  the  satisfaction  of  human 
wants,  and  human  wants  lead  us  into  a  deep  discussion  of  human 
nature  in  its  present  relationships,  its  appetites,  its  weaknesses  and 
its  antecedents,  leading  us  into  the  domain  of  education,  law  and 
religion, — in  a  word,  into  the  forms  of  civilization,  so  that  we  may 
understand  the  means  of  production  and  exchange  as  adapted  to 
human  needs. 

Now,  with  regard  to  our  civilization  of  today,  the  thing  that 
impresses  us  above  all  else  is  the  wonderful  way  in  which  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  practically  all  human  beings  have  been  brought 
together  into  what  might  be  called  human  unity.  I  need  not  dwell 
on  the  wonderful  inventions  that  have  helped  to  bring  this  about. 
We  are  forever  speaking  of  them.  But  we  do  not  equally  realize  and 
bear  in  mind,  especially  when  discussing  the  hardships  and  evils  of 
present  conditions,  that  these  things  are  of  immeasurable  benefit  to 
the  human  race,  and  that  all  these  inventions  of  which  we  boast  are 
but  the  products  of  brain  and  genius  acquired  by  antecedent  develop- 
ment. The  winds  and  waves  of  themselves  never  made  an  aeroplane, 
an  automobile,  or  a  wireless  telegraph. 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  337 

Think  for  a  moment  how  the  whole  world  and  all  its  inhabitants, 
black,  brown  and  white,  inhabiting  all  climes  and  in  all  degrees  of 
cultivation  and  crudeness,  of  refinement  or  brutality,  or  skill  or  social 
helplessness,  have  been  brought  into  touch  through  the  organizing 
genius  of  the  leaders  of  human  kind.  Progress  has  brought  about 
thus  conditions  that  tend,  first,  towards  safety,  second,  toward 
enjoyment,  and,  thirdly,  towards  realizing  the  ideals  of  humanity. 
This  solidarity  of  the  human  race  is  an  acquisition  first  known  in  our 
own  times.  Nothing  like  it  ever  existed  before.  The  human  race 
ever  tended  up  toward  it,  but  now  it  has  been  measurably  accom- 
plished, and  accomplished  for  all  time.  And  looking  through  the 
vistas  of  the  future,  we  can  see  that  along  these  lines  future  progress 
is  to  come. 

I  call  attention  to  these  things  because  I  want  to  make  it  very 
clear  that  civilization,  even  with  all  its  defects,  has  great  benefits 
and  magnificent  possibilities,  that  these  benefits  have  come  by  regular 
progress  of  the  race  from  past  ages,  and  that  an  entire  overturn  of 
the  present  forms  of  civilized  activity  would  jeopardize  the  benefits 
which  we  now  enjoy.  This  thought  will  become  clearer  as  we  dis- 
cuss our  second  topic,  viz.,  the  stages  of  development  that  have  led 
up  to  the  present  forms  of  human  society. 

A  study  of  the  remains  of  human  beings  from  prehistoric  ages, 
coupled  with  a  study  of  the  barbarians  and  savages  of  the  present 
day;  a  study  of  the  ancient  types,  of  the  conditions  and  methods  of 
mediaeval  times,  exhibit  clearly  that  the  civilization  of  today  has  been 
reached  by  the  steady  progress  of  mankind.  Countless  ages  have 
been  spent  in  the  process,  but  such  is  the  nature  of  human  growth. 
From  the  kitchen  middens  and  the  cafes  of  the  old  world,  from 
the  prehistoric  Swiss  villages,  as  well  as  from  the  study  of  the  savages 
in  remote  regions  today,  we  realize  the  brutish  conditions  of  unde- 
veloped human  life.  I  do  not  here  discuss  the  subject  of  the  "fall  of 
man."  That  belongs  to  the  realm  of  theology  and  is  in  no  wise 
inconsistent  with  the  facts  which  I  am  here  presenting.  Crouching 
in  caves  and  holes  in  the  ground,  full  of  terror  and  weak  beyond  all 
animals,  primitive  man  begins  to  emerge  into  social  life.  Our 
Socialistic  brethren,  in  lauding  the  good  qualities  of  human  nature 
unrelieved  by  religion,  seem  to  forget  that  even  today  there  are  human 
beings  who  indulge  in  the  practice  of  eating  human  flesh;  that 
monsters  of  iniquity  have  lived  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  long  before 
capitalism  was  ever  thought  of,  and  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  these 
brutish  tendencies  would  disappear  under  the  magic  words  of  any 
theoretical  system.  Primitive  man,  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  ele- 
ments and  his  own  passions,  seems  to  have  been  saved  from  destruc- 
tion by  the  dawning  light  of  intelligence  and  the  dawning  belief  in  a 
superior  power  that  ruled  his  life. 


338  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

In  ancient  times,  subject  to  the  hard  conditions  of  undeveloped 
life,  subject  to  the  dreadful  tyranny  of  the  few  who  mastered,  man- 
kind as  a  whole  had  still  but  few  benefits  which  distinguished  them 
above  the  beasts.  Civilization,  indeed,  develops  in  a  few  favored 
spots,  in  Greece  and  Rome,  in  Egypt  and  in  western  Asia,  but  the 
vast  majority  of  mankind  are  sunk  in  want  and  suffering.  The  few 
individuals  act  as  despots  and  tyrants;  the  hordes  of  mankind  appear 
simply  as  masses  and  not  as  individuals. 

And  yet,  ancient  times  exhibit  a  distinct  gain  beyond  prehistoric 
ages,  because  even  a  few  real  personalities  are  produced,  and  because 
they  manifest  a  tendency,  however  slight,  to  raise  the  standard  of 
life  for  a  portion  of  the  race. 

Mediaeval  times  are  characterized  by  feudalism — a  system  of  land- 
holding  by  which  the  great  hordes  of  barbarians,  who  in  ancient 
times  had  been  without  the  pale  of  law  and  the  light  of  education, 
are  now  brought  into  organization;  which,  however  crude  it  may 
have  been,  however  much  inequality  and  tyranny  it  may  have  pro- 
duced, definitely  and  distinctly  tended  to  the  unification  of  the 
races  and  the  transmission  to  them  of  some  elementary  knowledge 
of  law  and  progress.  Add  to  that  the  unspeakable  value  of  the  new 
doctrine  of  Christ,  born  at  the  close  of  the  ancient  period,  whose  life 
and  teaching  now  begin  to  illumine  the  world,  make  it  possible  for 
the  crude  masses  of  humanity  to  gain  some  knowledge  of  the  meaning 
of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  the  fatherhood  of  God. 

The  invention  of  gunpowder,  the  use  of  cannon  broke  to  pieces  the 
foundations  of  feudal  life;  and  then,  later,  the  invention  of  the  steam 
engine  and  other  industrial  machines  have,  indeed,  as  Karl  Marx 
says,  "helped  mightily  in  bringing  on  our  present  capitalistic  era." 

Before  considering  the  evils  of  the  capitalistic  regime,  let  us  again 
briefly  summarize  the  inestimable  benefits  which  the  slow  develop- 
ment of  the  race  has  hitherto  produced.  First,  solidarity  of  the  race, 
— physically,  industrially,  and,  to  a  degree,  intellectually.  Christian- 
ity has  added  to  that  a  conception  of  brotherhood,  of  self-sacrifice 
for  public  gain,  the  relief  of  suffering,  because  we  are  all  brothers 
inasmuch  as  we  are  all  children  of  God.  This  doctrine  has  not  come 
from  materialism,  nor  from  atheism,  but  is  the  highest  product  of 
man's  spiritual  experience.  Industrially,  the  world  has  been  brought 
into  actual  productive  co-operation.  The  adjustment,  in  many  ways, 
is  crude;  the  effect,  in  many  ways,  unjust;  but  actual  industrial 
co-operation  of  the  entire  human  race  exists:  and,  furthermore,  in 
that  industrial  co-operative  productivity  the  individual  counts  for 
more  than  he  has  ever  counted  in  the  history  of  the  world  before. 
The  great  lever,  of  course,  is  education;  and,  bad  as  our  civilization 
may  be,  universal  education  is  not  only  made  possible,  but,  in  most  of 
the  leading  countries  today,  it  is  actually  compulsory.  The  child  of 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  339 

the  poorest  is  placed  in  possession  of  the  intellectual  heritage  of  the 
race  and  given  the  key  that  unlocks  the  powers  of  all  the  world. 

While  deploring  "white  slavery"  and  industrial  tyranny,  let  us 
not  forget  that  never  before  has  the  child  of  the  poor  man  enjoyed  so 
many  opportunities  for  success  as  he  does  today.  The  outlook  for 
the  future  is  even  brighter.  See  how  many  safeguards  there  are 
against  every  evil.  Tyranny  of  all  kinds,  when  brought  into  the 
light  of  the  world's  public  opinion,  begins  to  crumble.  The  greatest 
despot  in  the  world  fears  the  growing  consciousness  of  his  subjects. 
The  mere  statement  of  a  grievance  begins  to  bring  about  its  over- 
throw. Show  that  a  law  is  unjust  today,  and  that  law  is  doomed. 
Show  that  a  man  is  a  tyrant  today,  and  that  man  will  tremble  for 
his  life. 

While  saying  all  this,  I  do  not  forget  for  a  moment  that  we  have, 
as  I  have  said  before,  many  and  grievous  evils.  The  question  is, 
Must  our  civilization  be  destroyed  in  order  to  remedy  them?  as  our 
friends,  the  Socialists  and  the  Anarchists  maintain,  or  can  the 
means  that  have  already  produced  the  benefits  that  we  enjoy  be 
relied  upon  to  remove  our  social  diseases  and  carry  the  world  to 
greater  heights? 

Let  us  now  consider  whether  the  Socialist  movement  is  helpful  or 
dangerous  in  our  present  condition;  whether  the  idea  of  the  Socialist 
is  possible  of  attainment;  and  if  so,  whether  it  will  bring  about,  as 
the  Socialists  claim,  a  paradise  on  earth. 

Perhaps  we  can  best  approach  these  questions  by  reading  the 
indictment  of  our  present  capitalistic  system  as  given  in  the  Socialistic 
Campaign  Book  for  the  year  1912.  It  is  a  partial  elaboration  of  the 
doctrine  of  Karl  Marx  and  August  Bebel. 

1.  Wealth  and  power  have  been  concentrated  in  a  very  few  hands. 

2.  The  vast  majority  of  the  people  live  in  hopeless  poverty. 

3.  They  are  badly  housed. 

4.  The  government  and  the  courts,  and  even  the  church,  are 
thoroughly  corrupt  under  the  influence  of  the  monopolists. 

o.  The  great  business  of  the  country  is  conducted  by  fraud,  stocks 
are  watered,  foods  are  adulterated,  railroads  are  dishonestly  managed. 

6.  The  competitive  system  is  of  necessity  extremely  wasteful,  and 
leads 

7.  To  a  very  large  percentage  of  commercial  failures. 

8.  The  public  schools  of  the  United  States  are  inefficient. 

9.  Panics  are  very  common. 

10.  Crime,  insanity  and  suicides  characterize  our  age. 

11.  Social  vice  is  a  natural  outgrowth  of  our  present  system. 

12.  The  extent  of  divorce  makes  marriage  a  failure. 

13.  Immigration  is  encouraged  to  make  more  helpless  the  cause  of 
the  workingman. 


340  JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL 

14.  The  war  spirit  is  inculated  in  our  public  schools.  Vast  sums 
of  money  are  paid  for  old  wars  and  the  preparation  for  new  ones. 

In  one  word,  our  entire  civilization  is  hopelessly  corrupt  because  of 
the  presence  of  capital  in  private  hands. 

I  believe  that  good  sense  will  permit  us  to  admit  that  most  of  the 
facts  given  by  the  Socialists  are  well  founded,  but  will  also  lead  us 
to  absolutely  deny  the  conclusions  of  the  Socialists,  and  that,  too, 
without  endeavoring  to  cover  the  Socialists  with  opprobrium  or 
ridicule. 

The  proverb  that  what  is  every  man's  business  is  no  man's  business 
is  very  old  and  very  true  and  very  strong,  and  applies  with  fatal 
force  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Co-operative  Commonwealth.  Of 
course,  the  Socialists  tell  us  that  under  the  Socialistic  regime  there 
will  be  no  such  thing  as  a  wage  system,  and  that  the  workers  would 
share  in  the  common  profits  of  industry,  and  the  gain  thereby  would 
be  so  vast  that  it  would  more  than  offset  the  present  spur  of  private 
initiative.  But  the  absurdity  of  this  is  manifest,  as  soon  as  one 
attempts  to  concretely  plan  the  details  of  such  a  system.  When  all 
governments  and  all  corporations,  as  we  now  know  them,  are  abolished 
what  will  supply  their  place?  Can  the  world  get  on  without  govern- 
ment? Who  will  take  the  lead  in  industry?  Who  will  do  the  dirty 
work?  Who  will  do  the  easy  work?  Who  will  do  the  manual  work? 
Who  will  do  the  brain  work?  Who  will  divide  the  products?  If 
evenly,  where  is  the  justice  of  such  a  plan?  Will  he  who  is  conscious 
of  having  done  a  superior  service  be  satisfied  with  an  ordinary  share? 
Would  those  that  do  as  little  as  they  possibly  can  under  present  cir- 
cumstances glow  with  zeal  under  Socialism,  which  appears  to  guar- 
antee a  livelihood  for  all  men? 

Ah,  but  they  say,  remove  monopoly,  remove  private  capitalism, 
and  all  these  evils  that  we  complain  of,  the  bad  houses,  the  bad 
sanitation,  the  miserable  wages,  the  political  corruption,  the  dis- 
honesty in  commercial  life,  the  failure  of  business,  the  illiteracy 
among  the  people,  panics,  crime,  suicidal  insanity,  vice  and  the 
divorce  evil,  unwholesome  immigration,  the  throttling  of  the  press, 
and  wars  will  disappear. 

Good  Brother  Socialist,  I  pray  you,  remove  your  pink  spectacles, 
and  study  human  nature.  The  attempt  to  state  anything  like  a 
thorough-going  system  of  Socialism  in  practical  operation  reveals  its 
absurdity.  It  is  not  possible  to  establish  such  an  economic  and  social 
system. 

Is  the  organized  movement  known  as  International  Socialism, 
then,  without  dancer?  On  the  contrary,  the  dangers  from  it  are 
very  great  and  very  real.  It  draws  under  its  banners  all  those  who 
are  dissatisfied  with  present  conditions;  and,  through  great  skill  and 
leadership,  through  large  numbers  and  most  skilful  political  organiza- 


JAMES  MAHOXEY  MEMORIAL  341 

tion,  there  is  the  possibility  of  exceedingly  great  harm.  It  is  possible 
for  the  Socialists  to  gain  control  of  the  legislative  bodies  of  the  world. 
It  is  possible  for  them  to  establish  a  regime  which  they  would  call 
Socialistic,  which  would  tend  to  break  down  the  safeguards  of  civili- 
zation, which  I  have  enumerated.  To  overthrow  the  legal  safe- 
guards and  the  social  checks  and  balances  which  now  make  progress 
possible,  it  would  be  quite  possible  for  the  Socialists,  unless  checked, 
to  plunge  the  world  into  a  species  of  despotism  such  as  it  has  never 
seen  before. 

Secondly,  the  atheistic  propaganda  of  the  Socialists  is  likewise  a 
serious  menace,  for  all  history  shows  that  men  have  progressed  only 
as  they  have  developed  in  spiritual  power  and  character;  and,  as  for 
the  third  point,  touching  the  abolition  of  marriage,  Socialism  tends 
to  break  down  the  moral  safeguards  which  are  never  too  strong  in  a 
complex  society,  and  would  tend  to  bestialize  the  human  race.  Con- 
ditions in  which  men  would  have  no  belief  in  God,  in  which  the 
relations  of  the  sexes  would  be  promiscuous,  would  not  be  a  paradise 
on  earth  but  a  miry  bog  which  would  mean  decadence,  decay,  and 
death. 

But  I  believe  that  the  human  race  is  altogether  too  sturdy  and  too 
virile  to  fall  ino  the  bottomless  bog  of  Socialism. 

We  may  all  grant  that  many  of  the  Socialists  and  the  Industrial 
Workers  of  the  World  are  sincere  and  earnest;  but  how  can  the  latter, 
for  example,  be  helpful  in  adjusting  the  delicate  and  difficult  questions 
of  human  association,  when  they  insist,  first  of  all,  that  the  working 
class  and  the  employing  class  have  nothing  in  common,  and  that 
they  must  fight  until  the  one  class  has  completely  destroyed  the 
other?  I  am  well  aware  that  there  is  a  movement  called  Christian 
Socialism,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  that  movement  in  this 
connection.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  Christian  Socialists 
are  not  visionary  and  misguided,  and  any  International  Socialist  who 
speaks  his  mind  freely  will  acknowledge  his  contempt  for  them. 

Little  attention  need  be  paid  to  the  Socialistic  communities  that 
have  been  established  in  the  United  States  and  elsewhere,  for  they 
are  of  little  consequence;  and,  as  they  have  always  been  failures, 
they  add  nothing  to  the  force  of  the  Socialistic  argument.  Much  is 
said  about  New  Zealand  as  proving  the  Socialistic  position.  How 
absurd !  New  Zealand  is  not  a  Socialistic  state,  nor  anything  like  it. 
Fortunate  in  climate,  in  soil,  and  in  population,  and  in  the  guidance 
of  skilful  labor  leaders,  much  true  progress  is  being  made.  The 
Socialist  movement  has  had  practically  nothing  to  do  with  industrial 
advance  in  New  Zealand. 

As  regards  Anarchism — its  doctrines  and  remedies  need  occupy  us 
but  very  briefly.  As  far  as  it  is  constructive,  it  rests  on  voluntary 
co-operation.  No  sensible  person,  who  has  ever  undertaken  any 


342  JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL 

serious  practical  work,  will  believe  for  one  moment  that  voluntary 
co-operation  can  accomplish  the  work  of  this  fierce  and  selfish  old 
world. 

One  of  the  best  proofs  of  the  mildness  and  tolerance  of  our  present 
capitalistic  system — such  as  it  is — and  of  the  fact  it  has  within  it  the 
seeds  of  progress,  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  Socialist  movement  itself 
has  been  enabled  to  reach  its  present  position  of  power.  When,  in 
former  times,  would  it  have  been  possible  for  men,  whose  avowed 
object  was  the  overturn  of  government,  to  be  allowed  to  work  their 
way  into  national  councils  and  lay  their  plans  before  the  whole  world? 
Time  was  when  their  heads  would  have  been  stuck  on  pikes  and 
adorned  the  gates  of  cities.  Good  proof  it  is  that  we  today  rely  upon 
reason  and  upon  justice  in  dealing  with  all  men,  even  with  those  who 
come  to  us  with  words  of  treason  upon  their  lips. 

Now  then,  what  have  we  to  say  as  to  the  real  remedy  for  the  evils 
from  which  we  suffer?  Excessive  monopoly,  corruption  in  govern- 
ment, corruption  in  business,  frequent  injustice  in  wages,  and  in 
hours  of  work;  the  problems  of  immigration,  of  disease,  of  suicide, 
of  insanity,  and  divorce — what  shall  be  our  remedies  and  solutions? 

Let  us  take  New  Zealand  as  an  example.  Co-operation  is  there 
the  watchword, — not  co-operation  that  looks  to  the  destruction  of 
private  initiative,  or  of  private  capital,  but  that  which  looks  to  com- 
mon action,  wherever  common  action  is  possible;  which  looks  to  the 
spirit  of  brotherhood  to  produce  that  mutual  understanding  whereby 
individuals,  with  all  their  selfishness,  may  be  led  to  subordinate 
something  of  their  personal  gain  to  the  general  good.  Every  one  of 
the  difficulties  from  which  we  now  suffer  has  a  definite,  practical 
remedy;  but  its  solution,  its  application,  will  depend  upon  the  spirit 
of  Christ  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men.  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul,  with  all  thy  strength, 
with  all  thy  minds,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  No  materialistic 
conception,  no  atheistic  conception,  can  possibly  lead  to  this.  Not  by 
breaking  down  the  springs  of  spiritual  life  will  men  help  to  cure 
diseases, — be  fair  and  honorable  in  their  dealings,  and  have  a  sense 
of  duty  in  their  social  and  public  life,  but  through  reverent  following 
of  the  spirit  of  the  Creator. 

The  spirit  of  religion  is  the  executive  spirit  of  mankind.  It  is  the 
inspiration  which  leads  to  power,  as  well  as  to  the  purification  of 
conduct.  It  is  just  as  true  in  the  lower  forms  as  in  the  higher  forms. 
The  spirit  of  human  progress  among  the  nations  is  merely  a  recital  of 
religious  history.  When  the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  vitalized  by  a 
belief  in  their  gods,  all  that  was  valuable  in  their  civilization  was 
developed.  When  the  Egyptian  was  true  to  his  deities,  he  built  the 
pyramids.  When  the  Puritan  had  a  burning  faith  in  the  presence  of 
the  living  God,  he  established  his  home  in  the  wilderness  in  the  New 


JAMES  MAHONEY  MEMORIAL  343 

World  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  United  States.  When  the 
Catholic's  belief  was  vital  in  the  Middle  Ages,  he  built  the  cathedrals, 
he  painted  immortal  pictures,  he  built  the  hospitals;  and,  braving 
all  dangers,  the  Catholic  missionary  bore  the  cross  to  the  savage, 
seeking  to  bring  all  men  into  unity  of  fellowship  and  into  the  spirit  of 
Christ. 

Not  to  the  Socialist,  then,  or  to  the  Anarchist,  but  to  such  doctrine 
as  that  of  the  grand  old  Pope,  Leo  XIII,  in  his  Encyclical  on  "The 
Condition  of  Labor,"  should  we  look  for  a  just  solution  of  our  social 
and  industrial  difficulties.  In  this  he  maintains  that  private  property 
is  necessary  to  safeguard  not  only  our  institutions,  but  even  the  dig- 
nity and  sanity  of  man,  the  permanence  of  the  home,  the  virility  of 
the  human  stock,  and  conditions  favorable  to  the  worship  of  God. 

On  this  doctrine  of  the  great  Leo  we  believe  that  all  should  unite — 
Protestant  and  Catholic,  right-thinking  Jews  and  Gentiles.  We 
should  unite  against  the  Socialist  for  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  eco- 
nomic and  legal  justice  between  man  and  man,  the  maintenance  of 
law  and  order, — those  divine  ties  that  bind  humanity  to  the  All  Wise 
Ruler  of  the  universe. 

"  Strike  for  your  altars  and  your  fires, 
God  and  your  native  land!  " 


CHAPTER   XIII 

DORCHESTER  HEIGHTS 

WORDS  AND  MUSIC  WRITTEN  BY 
JAMES  MAHONEY 

1908 


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